mmm
RECORDS OF THE PAST
BEING
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
OF THE
ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION
OF
THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCH/EOLOGY.
VOL. V.
ASSYRIAN TEXTS.
i
SEP 0 o 1987
LONDON:
SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS,
15, PATERNOSTER ROW.
NOTE.
Every Text here given is either now translated for the first
time, or has been specially revised by the Translator to the
date of this publication.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE ... ... ... ... ... ... i
HISTORICAL.
Legend of the Infancy of Sargina I. ... ... i
By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
Inscription of Tiglath Pileser I. ... ... ... 5
By Sir H. RAWLINSON, K.C.B., D.C.L., etc.
Black Obelisk Inscription of Shalmaneser II. ... 27
By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
Inscription of Tiglath Pileser II. ... ... ... 43
By the Rev. J. M. RODWELL, M.A.
Early History of Babylonia, Part II. ... ... 53
By GEORGE SMITH.
Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar ... ... ... m
By the Rev. J. M. RODWEI.I,, M.A.
Inscription of Neriglissar ... ... ... ... 137
By the Rev. J. M. RODWELL, M.A.
Inscription of Nabonidus ... ... ... ... 143
By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
Inscription of Darius, at Nakshi Rustam 149
V By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
MYTHICAL.
Accadian Hymn to Istar ... ... ... ... 155
By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
War of the Seven Evil Spirits against Heaven ... 161
By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
Tables of Omens ... ... ... 167
By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
List of Further Texts 177
PREFACE.
THE fifth volume of the " RECORDS OF THE PAST "
contains translations from the Assyrian, Babylonian
and Persian cuneiform inscriptions. Most of these
are from historical monuments as being of the
greatest value to ancient history. In the present
volume are several of the most important Babylonian
inscriptions, amongst them that of Nebuchadnezzar
of whose history unfortunately but few contemporary
documents are at present known, while of the earlier
kings of Babylon mere fragmentary notices remain.
The student as well as the general public will find
this volume equal in interest to the preceding and
the amount of new information considerable. Issued
simultaneously with the fourth of the series in order
to meet public demand and expectation, the
rapidity with which it has been brought out is due
to the cordial co-operation of the Assyrian scholars
who have worked indefatigably for its production,
and have in so short a time prepared or revised their
different translations. Although historical texts have
first engaged the attention of scholars, an unexhausted
supply of literary or scientific import, as well as
mythology and official records, still remain for selec-
tion, many of which have been as yet untouched.
Amongst them are the so-called Izdubar legends
comprising the account of the Babylonian and
Assyrian Cosmogony, the creation of the world, and
11 PREFACE.
of man, his fall, the war of the gods in heaven, the
deluge, and other traditions some of which have been
translated, but others have not as yet been published.
Some of these will form the material of subsequent
volumes and afford a general idea of the mythology
of the two great Semitic empires and will prove of
great value for the comparative study of mythology
at present so little understood on account of the
investigations having been restricted to the myths of
the Aryan nations. If freedom, eloquence and philo-
sophy have had their home in the West, religion has
always from the most remote ages had its cradle in
the East. From the East originated germs of
thought which grew up into blossoms amongst other
races long after the parent stem had lain a sapless
trunk in the distant regions of the Euphrates and the
Nile. It must be again repeated that it is impossible
to know the sources of Hellenic and Italian civiliza-
tion by enquiries directed into purely Aryan sources.
The orbit of vision has been enlarged, the decipher-
ment and interpretations of these dead and extinct
languages, like the discovery of the telescope in
astronomy, carry the eye to the farthest realms
of space, to enlarged human vision. So this newly
acquired instrument of interpretation has pierced the
hitherto unseen period which transcends the secondary
history of the West. The classical and biblical scholar,
alike require the valuable information now placed at
their disposal as elements of primary instruction for
their studies.
S. BIRCH.
London, \st July, 1875.
THE LEGEND
OF THE
INFANCY OF SARGINA THE FIRST,
KING OF AGANI.
TRANSLATED BY
H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
'IP HE text of this story is lithographed in plate 4
of the third volume of Rawlinson's British Museum
inscriptions. I gave a translation of it in the Trans-
actions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, Vol. I.,
p. 271.
One portion of it much resembles the history of
the infancy of Moses as related in the second chapter
of Exodus. We there read that the mother of Moses
" took for him an ark of bulrushes and daubed it with
slime and with pitch and put the child therein, and
she laid it in the flags by the river's brink ? All this
was done likewise by the mother of Sargina. The
pitch was to prevent the entrance of the water.
Exod. ii. v. 5, 6. "And Pharaoh's daughter saw the
ark among the flags, and she sent her maid to fetch
it. And when she had opened it she saw the child."
This circumstance also agrees exactly. Sargina's
mother had made a door to the ark, and closed it with
pitch, of course only round the edges. The child
would breathe freely through the interstices of the
rushes and could not fall out of the ark.
VOL. v. 2
2 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Similar traditions attend the birth of other great
lawgivers or founders of nations. The story of Romulus
offers in some respects a striking resemblance. The
mother of Romulus was a king's daughter : but his
fatJter was unknown. The new-born infant was placed
in a boat (alveus, Livy) and launched on the waters of
the Tiber. The boat coming ashore, was found by the
king's herdsman, who with his wife Acca brought him
up as his own child. When of sufficient age he
became the head of a band of rustic and warlike
youths and gradually reached sovereign power.
Similarly Sargina was saved from the river by
Akki the water-carrier (a name much resembling
Acca) and brought up as his own son. When old
enough he joined a rustic people and became their
king, and afterwards a powerful monarch (sar dannu).
The god Dionysus when an infant was placed in an
ark and thrown into the sea. The waves cast him
ashore on the coast of Brasiae in Laconia (Pausanias).
Cyrus, son of a princess, but brought up by a
herdsman as his own son ; elected king (though in
sport) by his rustic companions ; afterwards the
founder of a great monarchy, has some points of
similarity with the tale of Sargina : but the circum-
stance of the ark on the river is wanting.
These examples show that similar tales were
current in antiquity concerning the infancy of many
great sovereigns or legislators.
The date of Sargina's reign is very uncertain, but
he lived probably about 15 or 16 centuries before the
Christian era. I conjecture that this inscription was
written upon the pedestal of his statue.
INFANCY OF SARGINA I.
1 I AM SARGINA the great King ; the King of Agani.
2 My mother knew not my father :' my family were the
rulers of the land.
3 My city was the city of Atzu-pirani* which is on the
banks of the river Euphrates.
4 My mother conceived me : in a secret place she
brought me forth :
5 she placed me in an ark of bulrushes : with bitumen
my door she closed up :
6 she threw me into the river, which did not enter into
the ark to me.
7 The river carried me : to the dwelling of AKKI the
water-carrier 3 it brought me.
8 AKKI the water-carrier in his goodness of heart lifted
me up from the river.
1 Considering that his mother belonged to the royal family, that she
was delivered in secret, and that the child was abandoned, this passage
affords a strong confirmation of certain statements made by Herodotus
concerning the customs of the Babylonians : and it is also alluded to in
the book of Baruch. Compare also the story of Rhea Sylvia the mother
of Romulus, who was a king's daughter : the unknown father, and the
abandonment of the child.
* Atzu-pirani. The latter part of the name is the Chaldee Birani
meaning Citadel, Tower, or Palace.
3 A water-carrier was a labourer of the lowest and meanest class, as we
see from Joshua ix. 21 : "And the princes said unto them, Let them live:
but let them be bearers of wood and drawers of water unto all the con-
gregation." And again, verses 23 and 27, "There shall none of you be
freed from being bondmen and hewers of wood and drawers of water."
4 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
9 AKKI the water-carrier brought me up as his own son.
10 AKKI the water-carrier placed me with a tribe of
Foresters.1
11 Of this tribe of Foresters ISHTAR' made me King :
1 2 and for 3 years I reigned over them.
[The rest of the inscription, consisting of several lines which
are much broken, says that during his reign Sargina introduced
civilization, or great improvements. But this part has not a
mythic character, and is of less interest.]4
1 These Woodmen or Foresters were probably a rude race of men.
Sargina became the captain of the band.
' Ishtar was the Babylonian Venus.
3 Lacuna.
4 See pp. 56, 57, of this volume.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER I,
KING OF ASSYRIA.
TRANSLATED BY
SIR H. RAWLINSON, K.C.B., D.C.L., etc.
HPHIS inscription of Tiglath Pileser I, is found on
an octagonal prism and on some other clay frag-
ments discovered at Kalah-Shergat and at present in
the British Museum. The text is published in the
Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. I, p.
ix-xvi. Four translations of this inscription made
simultaneously in 1857 by Sir H. Rawlinson, Mr. Fox
Talbot, Dr. Hincks and Dr. Oppert were published
in that year under the title of Inscription of Tiglath
Pileser I, King of Assyria, B.C. 1150. 8vo., Lond.,
1857. Dr. Oppert has also given a revised transla-
tion in his Histoire de r Empire de Chald^e et
d'Assyrie, 8vo., Versailles, 1865, extracted from the
Annales de la Philosophic Chrttienne of the same year
5e Series, p. 44 and foil. The translations simul-
taneously published were submitted to the Asiatic
6 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Society in that year as a test of the advance made in
Assyrian interpretations and the close approxima-
tion made by scholars in their interpretation of
Assyrian texts. The notes contain some of the
different readings of the other Assyrian scholars at
that time and give a few of the principal varieties of
reading some of the words. It was generally con-
sidered a very triumphant demonstration of the
sound basis on which the then comparatively recent
Assyrian researches were placed and a confutation
of certain opinions then prevalent, that no certain
or accurate advance had been made in the decipher-
ment of Assyrian inscriptions. On the whole for its
extent and historical information relating to the
early history of Assyria this inscription is one of the
most important of the series showing the gradual
advance and rise of Assyria, while as one of the
first interpreted it presents considerable literary
interest in respect to the details of the progress of
Assyrian interpretation. It is also nearly the oldest
Assyrian text of any length which has been hitherto
discovered and is very interesting from its account of
the construction of the temples and palaces made by
the king in the early part of his reign.
S. B.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER I.
I THE BEGINNING.
Ashur, the great Lord, ruling supreme over the gods;
the giver of sceptres and crowns; the appointer of sover-
eignty. BEL, the Lord ; King of the circle of constellations;1
Father of the gods; Lord of the world. SIN;' the leader
the Lord of Empire the powerful the auspicious god ;
Shamas /* the establisher of the heavens and the earth;
;4 the vanquisher of enemies ; the dissolver of
cold. Vul;* he who causes the tempest to rage over
hostile lands and wicked countries. Abnil6 HERCULES;
the champion who subdues heretics aYid enemies, and who
strengthens the heart. Ishtar, the eldest 7 of the gods ;
the Queen of Victory; she who arranges battles.
II.
The great gods, ruling over the heavens and the earth,
whose attributes I have recorded and whom I have
named; the guardians of the kingdom of TIGLATH PILESER,
the Prince inspiring your hearts with joy ; the proud Chief
whom in the strength of your hearts ye have made
firm, (to whom) ye have confided the supreme crown,
(whom) ye have appointed in might to the sovereignty of the
country of BEL, to whom ye have granted pre-eminence,
exaltation, and warlike power. May the duration of his
empire continue for ever to his royal posterity, lasting as the
great temple of BEL !
1 Aratnaki. Fox Talbot * The moon. J The sun.
4 Lacuna. 5 Ninev. Fox Talbot. Ao. Dr. Oppert.
6 Ninip-Sumdan. Dr. Oppert 7 Or source.
8 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
III.
TIGLATH PILESER the powerful king ; supreme King of
Lashanan;1 King of the four regions; King of all Kings $
Lord of Lords ; the supreme; Monarch of Monarchs ; the
illustrious Chief who under the auspices of the SUN GOD,
being armed with the sceptre and girt with the girdle of
power over mankind, rules over all the people of BEL ; the
mighty Prince whose praise is blazoned forth among the
Kings : the exalted sovereign, whose servants ASHUR has
appointed to the government of the country of the four
regions (and) has made his name celebrated to posterity;
the conqueror of many plains and mountains of the Upper
and Lower Country ; the conquering hero, the terror of
whose name has overwhelmed all regions ; the bright con-
stellation who, according to his power8 has warred against
foreign countries (and) under the auspices of BEL, there
being no equal to him, has subdued the enemies of ASHUR. 3
IV.
ASHUR (and) the great gods, the guardians of my kingdom,
who gave government and laws to my dominions, and
ordered an enlarged frontier to their territory, having com
mitted to (my) hand their valiant and warlike servants, I
have subdued the lands and the peoples and the strong
places, and the Kings who were hostile to ASHUR ; and I
have reduced all that was contained in them. With a host*
of kings I have fought . . . .5 and have imposed on them the
bond of servitude. There is not to me a second in war, nor
an equal in battle. I have added territory to Assyria and
peoples to her people. I have enlarged the frontier of my
territories, and subdued all the lands contained in them.6
1 " Various tongues." Talbot. * Or " as he wished."
3 Or " has made them obedient to Ashur."
4 The Preamble concludes here. 5 Lacuna.
6 Literally, " a sixty."
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 9
V.
In the beginning of my reign 20,000 of the Muskayans*
and their 5 kings, who for 50 years had held the countries
of Alza and Perukhuz, without paying tribute and offerings
to ASHUR my Lord, and whom a King of Assyria had
never ventured to meet in battle betook themselves to their
strength, and went and seized the country of Comukha. In
the service of ASHUR my Lord my chariots and warriors
I assembled after me . . .* the country of Kasiyaia? a
difficult country, I passed through. With their 20,000
fighting men and their 5 kings in the country of Comukha
I engaged. I defeated them. The ranks of their warriors
in fighting the battle were beaten down as if by the tempest.
Their carcases covered the valleys and the tops of the
mountains. I cut off their heads. The battlements of
their cities I made heaps of, like mounds of earth, their
movables, their wealth, and their valuables I plundered to a
countless amount. 6000 of their common soldiers who fled
before my servants and accepted my yoke, I took them, and
gave them over to the men of my own territory.4
VI.
Then I went into the country of Comukha* which was
disobedient and withheld the tribute and offerings due to
ASHUR my Lord : I conquered the whole country of
Comukha. I plundered their moveables, their wealth, and
their valuables. Their cities I burnt with fire, I destroyed
and ruined. The common people of Comukha, who fled
before the face of my servants, crossed over to the city of
Sherisha? which was on the further banks of the Tigris, and
made this city into their stronghold. I assembled my
chariots and warriors. I betook myself to carts of iron1
1 Sirki citizens. Fox Talbot. * Lacuna. 3 Mount Kasiyaia. Dr. Hincks.
4 As slaves. 5 Dummuk. Dr. Oppert.
6 Sharisha. Fox Talbot. Siris. Dr. Hincks. ' Bridge. Fox Talbot.
10 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
in order to overcome the rough mountains and their difficult
marches. I made the wilderness (thus) practicable for the
passage of my chariots and warriors. I crossed the Tigris
and took the city of Sherisha their stronghold. Their
fighting men, in the middle of the forests, like wild beasts,
I smote. Their carcases filled the Tigris, and the tops of
the mountains. At this time the troops of the Akhef who
came to the deliverance and assistance of Comukha, together
with the troops of Comukha, like chaff I scattered. The
carcases of their fighting men I piled up like heaps on the
tops of the mountains. The bodies of their warriors, the
roaring'' waters carried down to the Tigris. KILI TERU
son of KALI TERU, son of ZARUPIN ZIHUSUN, their King,5
in the course of their fighting fell into my power. His wives
and his children, the delight of his heart I dispossessed him
of. 180* iron vessels and 5 trays of copper, together with
the gods of the people in gold and silver, and their beds and
furniture I brought away. Their moveables and their wealth
I plundered. This city and its palace I burnt with fire, I
destroyed and ruined.
VII.
The city of Urrakluiras their stronghold which was in
the country of Panari, I went towards. The exceeding fear
of the power of ASHUR, my Lord, overwhelmed them. To
save their lives they took their gods, and fled like birds to
the tops of the lofty mountains. I collected my chariots and
warriors, and crossed the Tigris. Shedi Teru* the son of
Yjiasutkh,6 King of Urrakluiras on my arriving in his
1 Aliens. Dr. Hincks.
* Nami River. Fox Talbot. Blood River. Dr. Hincks.
3 Tirikali fil Tirikali. Fox Talbot. Kiliantiru eldest son of Campinei-
yusan. Dr. Hincks.
4 Literally, " three sixties."
5 Sadiyantim. Dr. Hincks. Tiridates. Fox Talbot.
6 Kuthakin. Fox Talbot. Khathukhi. Dr. Hincks.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. II
country submitted to my yoke. His sons, the delight of his
heart, and his favourites, I condemned to the service of
the gods : 60 vessels of iron ; trays ' and bars of copper
. . .'with 120 cattle, and flocks he brought as tribute and
offerings. I accepted (them) and spared him. I gave him
his life, but imposed upon him the yoke of my empire
heavily for ever. The wide spreading country of Comukha
I entirely conquered, and subjected to my yoke. At this
time one tray of copper and one bar of copper from among
the service offerings and tribute of Comukha I dedicated to
ASHUR my Lord, and 60 iron vessels with their gods I
offered to my guardian god, Vul*
VIII.
From amongst my valiant servants, to whom ASHUR the
Lord gave strength and power, in 30 of my chariots, select
companies of my troops and bands of my warriors who were
expert in battle, I gathered together. I proceeded to the
extensive country of Miltis 3 which did not obey me ; it con-
sisted of strong mountains and a difficult land. Where it was
easy I traversed it in my chariots : where it was difficult I
went on foot In the country of Aruma, which was a
difficult land, and impracticable to the passage of my
chariots, I left the chariots and marched in front of my
troops. Like . ..." on the peak of the rugged mountains,
I marched victoriously. The country of Miltis,* like heaps
of stubble, I swept. Their fighting men in the course of
the battle like chaff I scattered. Their moveables, their
wealth and their valuables I plundered. Many of their
cities I burned with fire. I imposed on them religious
service* and offerings and tribute.
1 Nirmah mamkhar. Dr. Hincks. * Lacuna.
s Yem. Fox Talbot. 4 Eshtish. Fox Talbot.
5 Hostages. Fox Talbot. For further and subsequent various readings,
see the Edition of 1857.
12 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
IX.
TIGLATH PILESER, the illustrious warrior, the opener of
the roads of the countries, the subjugator of the rebellious
. . .'he who has overrun the whole Magian world.
X.
I subdued the extensive country of Subair, which was in
rebellion. The countries of Alza and Purukhuz, which
deferred their tribute and offerings, the yoke of my empire
heavily upon them I imposed, decreeing that they should
bring their tribute and offerings into my presence in the city
of Ashur. While I was on this expedition, which the Lord
ASHUR, committing to my hand a powerful rebel subduing
army, ordered for the enlargement of the frontiers of his
territory, there were 4000 of the Kaskaya and Hurunaya
rebellious tribes of the Kheti' who had brought under
their power the cities of Subarta, attached to the worship
of ASHUR, my Lord (so that) they did not acknowledge
dependence on Subarta. The terror of my warlike ex-
pedition overwhelmed them. They would not fight, but
submitted to my yoke. Then I took their valuables, and
i2o3 of their chariots fitted to the yoke, and I gave them
to the men of my own country.
XL
In the course of this my expedition, a second time I pro-
ceeded to the country of Comukha. I took many of
their cities. Their moveables, their wealth, and their
valuables I plundered. Their cities I burnt with fire, I
destroyed and overthrew. The soldiers of their armies, who
from before the face of my valiant servants fled away, they
would not engage with me in the fierce battle : to save their
lives they took to the stony heights of the mountains, an
1 Lacuna. 5 Hittites. 3 Two soss.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 13
inaccessible region : to the recesses of the deep forests
and the peaks of the difficult mountains which had never
been trodden by the feet of men, I ascended after them :
they fought with me ; I defeated them : the ranks of their
warriors on the tops of the mountains fell like rain : their
carcases filled the ravines and the high places of the
mountains : their moveables, their wealth, and their valu-
ables I carried off from the stony heights of the mountains.
I subdued the country of Comukha throughout its whole
extent, and I attached it to the frontiers of my own territory.
XII.
TIGLATH PILESER, the powerful King, the vanquisher of
the disobedient, he who has swept the face of the earth.
XIII.
In profound reverence to ASHUR my Lord, to the country
of Kharia, and the far-spreading tribes of the Akhe, deep
forests, which no former King (of Assyria) had ever reached,
the Lord ASHUR invited me to proceed. My chariots and
forces I assembled, and I went to an inaccessible region
beyond the countries of Itni and AyL As the steep
mountains stood up like metal posts, and were impracti-
cable to the passage of my chariots, I placed my chariots
in waggons, and (thus) I traversed the difficult ranges of
hills. All the lands of the Akhe and their wide-spreading
tribes having assembled, arose to do battle in the country of
Azutapis. In an inaccessible region I fought with them
and defeated them. The ranks of their (slain) warriors
on the peaks of the mountains were piled up in heaps; the
carcases of their warriors filled the ravines and high places
of the mountains. To the cities which were placed on
the tops of the mountains I penetrated victoriously: 27
cities of Kharia, which were situated in the districts of
14 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Aya, Suira, Itni, Shetzu, Shelgu, Arzanibru, Varutsu, and
Anitku, I took; their moveables, their wealth, and their
valuables I plundered; their cities I burnt with fire, I
destroyed and overthrew.
XIV.
The people of Adavas feared to engage in battle with me ;
they left their habitations, and fled like birds to the peaks
of the lofty mountains. The terror of ASHUR my Lord
overwhelmed them ; they came and submitted to my yoke ;
I imposed on them tribute and offerings.
XV.
The countries of Tsaravas and Ammavas, which from
the olden time had never submitted, I swept like heaps of
stubble ; with their forces in the country of Aruma I fought,
and I defeated them. The ranks of their fighting men I
levelled like grass. I bore away their gods ; their move-
ables, their wealth, and their valuables I carried off. Their
cities I burnt with fire, I destroyed and overthrew, and
converted into heaps and mounds. The heavy yoke of my
empire I imposed on them. I attached them to the worship
of ASHUR my Lord.
XVI.
I took the countries of Itsua and Daria, which were
turbulent and disobedient. Tribute and offerings I imposed
on them. I attached them to the worship of ASHUR.
XVII.
In my triumphant progress over my enemies, my chariots
and troops I assembled ; I crossed the lower Zab. The
countries of Muraddan and Tsaradavas, which were near
Atsaniu and Atuva, difficult regions, I captured ; their
warriors I cut down like weeds. The city of Muraddan,
their capital city, and the regions towards the rising sun,
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 15
I took possession of. Their gods, their wealth, and their
valuables, one soss bars of iron, 30 talents of iron, the
abundant wealth of the Lords, of their palaces, and their
moveables, I carried off. This city I burnt with fire, I
destroyed and overthrew. At this time this iron to the god
VUL, my great Lord and guardian, I dedicated.
XVIII.
In the might and power of ASHUR my Lord, I went to
the country of Tsugi, belonging to Gilkhi, which did not
acknowledge ASHUR my Lord. With 4000 of their troops,
belonging to the countries Khimi, Lukhi, Arirgi, Alamun,
Nuni, and all the far-spread land of the Akhi, in the
country of Khirikhi, a difficult region, which rose up like
metal posts, with all their people I fought on foot. I
defeated them ; the bodies of their fighting men on the tops
of the mountains I heaped in masses. The carcases of
their warriors I strewed over the country of Khirikhi like
chaff. I took the entire country of Tsugi. 25 of their
gods, their moveables, their wealth, and their valuables
I carried off. Many of their cities I burnt with fire, I
destroyed and overthrew. The men of their armies sub-
mitted to my yoke. I had mercy on them. I imposed on
them tribute and offerings. With attachment to the worship
of ASHUR, my Lord, I entrusted them.1
XIX.
At this time 25 of the gods belonging to those countries,
subject to my government, which I had taken, I dedicated
for the honor of the temple of the Queen of glory, the
great ancestress of ASHUR my Lord, of ANU, and of VUL,
the goddess who is the guardian of all the public temples
of my city of ASHUR, and of all the goddesses of my
country.
1 That is, " I caused them to worship Ashur."
1 6 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
XX.
TiGLATH-PiLESER, the powerful King; the subduer of
hostile races ; the conqueror of the whole circle of kings.
XXI.
At this time, in exalted reverence to ASHUR, my Lord,
by the godlike support of the heroic "SuN," having in
the service of the great gods, ruled over the four regions
imperially ; there being found (to me) no equal in war, and
no second in battle, to the countries of the powerful Kings
who dwelt upon the upper ocean and had never made their
submission, the Lord ASHUR having urged me, I went.
Difficult mountain chains, and distant (or inaccessible) hills,
which none of our Kings had ever previously reached,
tedious paths and unopened roads I traversed. The
countries of Elama, of Amadana, of Eltfs, of Sherabili,
of Likhuna, of Tirkakhuli, of Kisra, of Likhanubi, of
Elula, of Khastare, of Sakhisara, of Hubira, of Miliatruni,
of Sulianzt, of Nubandshe, and of Sheshe, 16 strong
countries, the easy parts in my chariots, and the difficult
parts in waggons of iron, I passed through ; the thickets of
the mountains I cut down ; bridges for the passage of my
troops I prepared ; I crossed over the Euphrates ; the King
of Elammi, the King of Tunubi, the King of Tuhali, the
King of Kindari, the King of Huzula, the King of
Vanzamuni, the King of Andiabi, the King of Pilakinna,
the King of Atiirgina, the King of Kulibartzini, the King
of Pinibirni, the King of Khimua, the King of Paiteri, the
King of Vairam, the King of Sururia, the King of Abae'ni,
the King of Adadni, the King of Kirini, the King of
Albaya, the King of Vagina, the King of Nazabia, the
King of Amalziu, the King of Dayeni, in all 23 Kings of
the countries of Nairi, in their own provinces having
assembled their chariots and troops, they came to fight
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 17
with me.1 By means of my powerful servants I straitened
them.' I caused the destruction of their far-spreading troops,
as if with the destroying tempest of VUL. I levelled the ranks
of their warriors, both on the tops of the mountains and on
the battlements of the cities, like grass. Two soss 3 of
their chariots I held as a trophy from the midst of the fight ;
one soss4 of the Kings of the countries of Nairi, and of
those who had come to their assistance, in my victory as far
as the upper ocean I pursued them; I took their great castles;
I plundered their moveables, their wealth and their valuables;
their cities I burnt with fire, I destroyed and overthrew, and
converted into heaps and mounds. Droves of many horses
and mules, of calves and of lambs, their property, in
countless numbers I carried off. Many of the Kings of the
countries of Nairi fell alive into my hands ; to these Kings
I granted pardon ; their lives I spared ; their abundance
and wealth I poured out before my Lord, the Sun god.
In reverence to my great gods, to after times, to the last
day, I condemned them to do homage. The young men,
the pride of their royalty, I gave over to the service of the
gods ; 1 200 horses and 2000 cattle I imposed on them as
tribute, and I allowed them to remain in their own countries.
XXII.
TSENI, the King of Daydni, who was not submissive to
ASHUR nay Lord, his abundance and wealth I brought it
to my city of ASHUR. I had mercy on him. I left him in life
to learn the worship of the great gods from my city of
Ashur. I reduced the far-spreading countries of Nafri
throughout their whole extent, and many of their kings I
subjected to my yoke.
XXIII.
In the course of this expedition, I went to the city of
1 Literally, to make war and do battle.
8 Or, brought them into difficulties. 3 120. 4 60.
VOL. V. 3
1 8 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Milidia, belonging to the country of Khanni-rabbi, which
was independent and did not obey me. They abstained
from engaging in the rude fight with me ; they submitted to
my yoke, and I had mercy on them. This city I did not
occupy, but I gave the people over to religious service, and
I imposed on them as a token of their allegiance a fixed
tribute of *
XXIV.
TiGLATH-PiLESER, the ruling constellation ; the powerful;
the lover of battle.
XXV.
In the service of my Lord ASHUR, my chariots and
warriors I assembled ; I set out on my march. In front
of my strong men I went to the country of the Aramaeans,
the enemies of my Lord ASHUR. From before Tsukha, as
far as the city of Qarqamis" belonging to the country of
Khatte,3 I smote with one blow. Their fighting men I slew ;
their moveables, their wealth, and their valuables in countless
numbers I carried off. The men of their armies who fled from
before the face of the valiant servants of my Lord ASHUR,
crossed over the Euphrates ; in boats covered with bitumen
skins I crossed the Euphrates after them ; I took six of
their cities which were below the country of Bisri ; I burnt
them with fire, and I destroyed and overthrew; and I
brought their moveables, their wealth, and their valuables to
my city of Ashur.
XXVI.
TIGLATH-PILESER, he who tramples upon the Magian
world ; he who subdues the disobedient ; he who has overrun
the whole earth.
XXVII.
My Lord ASHUR having urged me on, I took my way to
1 Lacuna. " Carchemish. 3 The Hittites.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 19
the vast country of Muzri, lying beyond Elammi, Tala, and
Kharutsa ; I took the country of Muzri throughout its whole
extent ; I subdued their warriors ; I burnt their cities with
fire, I destroyed and overthrew; the troops of the country of
Comani hastened to the assistance of the country of Muzri :
in the mountains I fought with them and defeated them.
In the metropolis, the city of Ann, which was under the
country of Ayatsa, I besieged them ; they submitted to my
yoke ; I spared this city; but I imposed on them religious
service and tribute and offerings.
XXVIII.
At this time the whole country of Comani which was in
alliance with the country of Muzri, all their people assembled
and arose to do battle and make war. By means of my
valiant servants I - fought with 20,000 of their numerous
troops in the country of Tala, and I defeated them ; their
mighty mass broke in pieces; as far as the country of
Kharutsa, belonging to Muzri, I smote them and pursued;
the ranks of their troops on the heights of the mountains
I cut down like grass their carcases covered the valleys
and the tops of the mountains ; their great castles I took, I
burnt with fire, I destroyed, and overthrew into heaps and
mounds.
XXIX.
The city of Khunutsa, their stronghold, I overthrew like a
heap of stubble. With their mighty troops in the city and
on the hills I fought fiercely. I defeated them; their
fighting men in the middle of the forests I scattered like
chaff. I cut off their heads as if they were carrion;
their carcases filled the valleys and (covered) the heights of
the mountains. I captured this city; their gods, their
wealth, and their valuables I carried off, and burnt with fire.
Three of their great castles, which were built of brick, and
the entire city I destroyed and overthrew, and converted
2O RECORDS OF THE PAST.
into heaps and mounds, and upon the site I laid down large
stones ; and I made tablets of copper, and I wrote on them
an account of the countries which I had taken by the help
of my Lord ASHUR, and about the taking of this city, and
the building of its castle ; and upon it1 I built a house of
brick, and I set up within it these copper tablets.
XXX.
In the service of ASHUR my Lord, my chariots and war-
riors I assembled, and I approached Kapshuna, their capital
city; the tribes of Comani would not engage in battle with
me ; they submitted to my yoke, and I spared their lives.
The great castle of the city and its brick buildings I trampled
under foot ; from its foundations to its roofs I destroyed it
and converted it into heaps and mounds, and a band of 300
fugitive heretics who did not acknowledge my Lord ASHUR,
and who were expelled from inside this castle, I took
this band and condemned to the service of the gods, and I
imposed upon the people tribute and offerings in excess of
their former tribute ; and the far-spreading country of Comani
throughout its whole extent I reduced under my yoke.
XXXI.
There fell into my hands altogether between the com-
mencement of my reign and my fifth year 42 countries, with
their kings, from beyond the river Zab, plain, forest, and
mountain, to beyond the river Euphrates, the country of
the Khatte2 and the upper ocean of the setting sun.
I brought them under one government; I placed them
under the Magian religion, and I imposed on them tribute
and offerings.
XXXII.
I have omitted many hunting expeditions which were
not connected with my warlike achievements. In pursuing
after the game I traversed the easy tracts in my chariots,
1 " The stone foundation." * Hittites.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 21
and the difficult tracts on foot. I demolished the wild
animals throughout my territories.1
XXXIII.
TiGLATH-PiLESER, the illustrious warrior, he who holds
the sceptre of Lashanan; he who has extirpated all wild
animals.
XXXIV.
The gods HERCULES and NERGAL gave their valiant ser-
vants and their arrows as a glory to support my empire.
Under the auspices of HERCULES, my guardian deity, four
wild bulls, strong and fierce, in the desert, in the country of
Mitan, and in the city Arazik, belonging to the country
of the Khatte,' with my long arrows tipped with iron, and
with heavy blows I took their lives. Their skins and their
horns I brought to my city of Ashur.
XXXV.
Ten large wild buffaloes in the country of Kharran, and
the plains of the river Khabur, I slew. Four buffaloes I
took alive ; their skins and their horns, with the live buffaloes,
I brought to my city of Ashur.
XXXVI.
Under the auspices of my guardian deity Hercules, two
soss of lions fell before me. In the course of my progress
on foot I slew them, and 800 lions in my chariots in my
exploratory journeys I laid low. All the beasts of the field
and the flying birds of heaven I made the victim of my shafts.3
XXXVII.
From all the enemies of ASHUR, the whole of them, I
exacted labour, I made, and finished the repairs of, the
temple of the goddess ASTARTE, my lady, and of the temple
of MARTU, and of BEL, and IL, and of the sacred buildings and
shrines of the gods belonging to my city of Ashur. I
purified their shrines, and set up inside the images of
1 A very difficult paragraph. * Hittites. 3 A very doubtful sentence.
22 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
the great gods, my Lords. The royal palaces of all the
great fortified cities throughout my dominions, which from
the olden time our kings had neglected through long years,
had become ruined. I repaired and finished them. The
castles of my country, I filled up their breaches. I founded
many new buildings throughout Assyria, and I opened
out irrigation for corn in excess of what my fathers had
done. I carried off the droves of the horses, cattle, and
asses that I obtained, in the service of my Lord ASHUR,
from the subjugated countries which I rendered tributary,
and the droves of the wild goats and ibexes, the wild sheep
and the wild cattle which ASHUR and HERCULES, my guar-
dian gods, incited me to chase in the depths of the forests,
having taken them I drove them off, and I led away their
young ones like the tame young goats. These little wild
animals, the delight of their parents' hearts, in the fulness
of my own heart, together with my own victims, I sacrificed
to my Lord ASHUR.
XXXVIII.
The pine, the ,* and the algum tree, these
trees which under the former kings my ancestors, they had
never planted, I took them from the countries which I had
rendered tributary, and I planted them in the groves of my
own territories, and I bought fruit trees; whatever I did
not find in my own country, I took and placed in the groves*
of Assyria.
XXXIX.
I built chariots fitted to the yoke for the use of my people*
in excess of those which had existed before. I added terri-
tories to Assyria, and I added populations to her population.
I improved the condition of the people, and I obtained for
them abundance and security.
1 Lacuna.
* Or " orchards." 3 Or " throughout my territories."
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 23
XL.
TiGLATH-PiLESER, the illustrious prince, whom ASHUR and
HERCULES have exalted to the utmost wishes of his heart ;
who has pursued after the enemies of ASHUR, and has sub-
jugated all the earth.
XLI.
The son of ASHUR-RIS-ILI, the powerful King, the subduer
of foreign countries, he who has reduced all the lands of the
Magian world.
XLII.
The grandson of MUTAGGIL-NABU, whom ASHUR, the
great Lord, aided according to the wishes of his heart
and established in strength in the government of Assyria.
XLIII.
The glorious offspring of ASHUR-DAPUR-!L, who held the
sceptre of dominion, and ruled over the people of BEL ; who
in all the works of his hand and the deeds of his life placed
his reliance on the great gods, and thus obtained a pros-
perous and long life.
XLIV.
The beloved child l of BARZAN-PALAKURA, the king who
first organized the country of Assyria, who purged his terri-
tories of the wicked as if they had been ,* and
established the troops of Assyria in authority.
XLV.
At this time the temple of ANU and VUL, the great gods,
my Lords, which, in former times, SHANSI-VUL, High-priest
of ASHUR, son of ISMI DAGAN, High-priest of ASHUR, had
founded, having lasted for 641 years, it fell into ruin. ASHUR-
DAPUR-IL, King of Assyria, son of BARZAN-PALA-KURA, King
of Assyria, took down this temple and did not rebuild it
For 60 years the foundations of it were not laid.
1 Or, "heart of hearts." ' Lacuna.
24 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
XLVI.
In the beginning of my reign, ANU and VUL, the great
gods, my Lords, guardians of my steps, they invited me to
repair this their shrine. So I made bricks ; I levelled the
earth, I took its dimensions ; I laid down its foundations
upon a mass of strong rock. This place throughout its
whole extent I paved with bricks in set order, 50 feet
deep I prepared the ground, and upon this substructure I
laid the lower foundations of the temple of ANU and VUL.
From its foundations to its roofs I built it up, better than it
was before. I also built two lofty cupolas in honour of their
noble godships, and the holy place, a spacious hall, I con-
secrated for the convenience of their worshippers, and to
accommodate their votaries, who were numerous as the
stars of heaven, and in quantity poured forth like flights
of arrows.1 I repaired, and built, and completed my
work. Outside the temple I fashioned (everything with the
same care) as inside. The mound of earth (on which it was
built) I enlarged like the firmament of the rising stars, and I
beautified the entire building. Its cupolas I raised up to
heaven, and its roofs I built entirely of brick. An inviolable
shrine for their noble godships I laid down near at hand.
ANU and VUL, the great gods, I glorified inside* I set
them up in their honoured purity, and the hearts of their
noble godships I delighted.
XLVIL
BIT-KHAMRI, the temple of my Lord VUL, which SHANSI-
VUL, High-priest of ASHUR, son of ISMI-DAGAN, High-priest
of ASHUR, had founded, became ruined. I levelled its site,
and from its foundation to its roofs I built it up of brick, I
enlarged it beyond its former state, and I adorned it. Inside
of it I sacrificed precious victims to my Lord VUL.
1 Very doubtful. * The shrine.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. 25
•XLVIII.
At this time I found various sorts of stone1 in the countries
of Nairi, which I had taken by the help of ASHUR, my Lord,
and I placed them in the temple of BIT-KHAMRI, belonging
to my Lord, VUL, to remain there for ever.
XLIX.
Since a holy place, a noble hall, I have thus consecrated
for the use of the great gods, my Lords ANU and VUL, and
have laid down an adytum for their special worship, and
have finished it successfully, and have delighted the hearts
of their noble godships, may ANU and VUL preserve me in
power. May they support the men of my Government. May
they establish the authority of my officers. May they bring
the rain, the joy of the year, on the cultivated land and the
desert during my time. In war and in battle may they pre-
serve me victorious. Many foreign countries, turbulent
nations, and hostile Kings I have reduced under my yoke ;
to my children and descendants may they keep them in firm
allegiance. I will lead my steps, firm as the mountains, to
the last days before ASHUR and their noble godships.
L.
The list of my victories and the catalogue of my triumphs
over foreigners hostile to ASHUR, which ANU and VUL have
granted to my arms, I have inscribed on my tablets and
cylinders, and I have placed them to the last days in the
temple of my Lords ANU and VUL, and the tablets of
SHAMSI-VUL, my ancestor, I have raised altars and sacrificed
victims (before them), and set them up in their places.
LI.
In after times, and in the latter days ,*
if the temple of the great gods, my Lords ANU and VUL,
and these shrines should become old and fall into decay,
may the prince who comes after me repair the ruins. May
1 The particular sorts cannot be identified. * Lacuna.
26 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
he raise altars and sacrifice victims before my tablets and
cylinders, and may he set them up again in their places, and
may he inscribe his name on them together with my name.
As ANU and VUL, the great gods, have ordained, may he
worship honestly with a good heart and full trust
LII.
Whoever shall abrade or injure my tablets and cylinders,
or shall moisten them with water, or scorch them with fire,
or expose them to the air, or in the holy place of god shall
assign them a position where they cannot be seen or under-
stood, or who shall erase the writing and inscribe his own
name, or who shall divide the sculptures, and break them
off from my tablets,
LIII.
ANU and VUL, the great gods, my Lords, let them
consign his name to perdition; let them curse him
with an irrevocable curse; let them cause his sovereignty
to perish; let them pluck out the stability of the throne
of his empire; let not offspring survive him in the king-
dom;1 let his servants be broken; let his troops be
defeated ; let him fly vanquished before his enemies. May
VUL in his fury tear up the produce of his land. May a
scarcity of food and of the necessaries of life afflict his
country. For one day may he not be called happy. May
his name and his race perish in the land.
In the month of Kuzallu? on the 29th day, in the High
Priesthood of Ina-iliya-hallik, (entitled) Rabbi-turi.
1 Doubtful and faulty in text. * Chisleu.
THE BLACK OBELISK
INSCRIPTION OF SHALMANESER II.
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
'IT HIS inscription is engraved on an obelisk of
black marble, 5 feet in height, found by Mr. Layard
in the centre of the Mound at Nimroud, and now in
the British Museum. Each of its four sides is divided
into five compartments of sculpture representing the
tribute brought to the Assjpian king by vassal
princes, Jehu of Israel being among the number.
Shalmaneser, whose annals and conquests are re-
corded upon it, was the son of Assur-natsir-pal,
and died in 823 B.C., after a reign of 35 years. A
28 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
translation of the inscription was one of the first
achievements of Assyrian decipherment, and was
made by Sir H. Rawlinson ; and Dr. Hincks shortly
afterwards (in 1851) succeeded in reading the name
of Jehu in it. M. Oppert translated the inscription
in his Histoire des Empires de Chaldte et d'Assyrie
and M. Menant has given another rendering of it in
his Annales des Rois d'Assyrie (1874). A copy of
the text will be found in Layard's Inscriptions in
the Cuneiform Character (1851).
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER.
FACE A.
1 ASSUR, the great Lord, the King of all
2 the great gods; ANU, King of the spirits of heaven
3 and the spirits of earth, the god, Lord of the world ;
BEL,
4 the Supreme, Father of the gods, the Creator ;
5 HE A, King of the deep, determiner of destinies, .
6 the King of crowns, drinking in brilliance ;
7 RIMMON, the crowned hero, Lord of canals;1 the
SUN-GOD,
8 the Judge of heaven and earth, the urger on of all ;
9 (MERODACH), Prince of the gods, Lord of battles ;
ADAR, the terrible,
10 (Lord) of the spirits of heaven and the spirits of earth,
the exceeding strong god ; NERGAL,
11 the powerful (god), King of the battle; NEBO, the
bearer of the high sceptre,
12 the god, the Father above; BELTIS, the wife of BEL,
mother of the (great) gods ;
13 ISTAR, sovereign of heaven and earth, who the face of
heroism perfectest;
14 the great (gods), determining destinies, making great
my kingdom.
15 (I am) SHALMANESER, King of multitudes of men,
prince (and) hero of ASSUR, the strong King,
1 6 King of all the four zones of the Sun (and) of multi-
tudes of men, the marcher over
17 the whole world; Son of ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL, the
supreme hero, who his heroism over the gods
1 Or, "fertility."
30 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
1 8 has made good and has caused all the world1 to kiss
his feet;
FACE B.
19 the noble offspring of TIGLATH-ADAR
20 who has laid his yoke upon all lands hostile to him,
and
21 has swept (them) like a whirlwind.
22 At the beginning of my reign, when on the throne
23 of royalty mightily I had seated myself, the chariots
24 of my host I collected. Into the lowlands * of the
country of 'Sime'si
25 I descended. The city of Aridu, the strong city
26 of NINNI, I took. In my first year
27 the Euphrates in its flood I crossed. To the sea of
the setting sun3
28 I went. My weapons on the sea I rested. Victims
29 for my gods I took.4 To mount Amanus5 I went up.
30 Logs of cedar-wood and pine-wood I cut. To
31 the country of Lallar I ascended. An image of my
Royalty in the midst (of it) I erected.
32 In my second year to the city of Tel-Barsip I ap-
proached. The cities
33 of AKHUNI the son of ADIN I captured. In his city I
shut him up. The Euphrates
34 in its flood I crossed. The city of Dabigu, a choice
city of the Hittites
35 together with the cities which (were) dependent upon
it I captured. In my third year AKHUNI
36 the son of ADIN, from the face of my mighty weapons
fled, and the city of Tel-Barsip,
FACE. c.
37 his royal city, he fortified. The Euphrates I crossed.
1 Or, " the countries the whole of them."
3 Or, " the descendings." 3 That is, the Mediterranean.
4 Namely, in sacrifice. s Khamanu in Assyrian.
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER. 31
38 The city unto Assyria I restored. I took it. (The
town) which (is) on the further side
39 of the Euphrates which (is) upon the river 'Sagurri,
which the Kings
40 of the Hittites call the city of Pitru,1
41 for myself I took. At my return
42 into the lowlands of the country of Alzi I descended.
The country of Alzi I conquered.
43 The countries of Dayaeni (and) Elam, (and) the city
of Arzascunu, the royal city
44 of ARAME of the country of the Armenians, the country
of Gozan (and) the country of Khupuscia.
45 During the eponymy of DAYAN-ASSUR from the city of
Nineveh I departed. The Euphrates
46 in its upper part I crossed. After AKHUNI the son of
ADIN I went.
47 The heights on the banks of the Euphrates as his
stronghold he made.
48 The mountains I attacked, I captured. AKHUNI with
his gods, his chariots,
49 his horses, his sons (and) his daughters I carried
away. To my city Assur
50 I brought (them). In that same year the country of
Kullar I crossed. To the country of Zamua
51 of Bit-Ani I went down. The cities of NIGDIARA of
the city of the Idians
52 (and) NIGDIMA I captured. In my fifth year to the
country of Kasyari I ascended.
53 The strongholds I captured. ELKHITTI of the Seru-
rians (in) his city I shut up. His tribute
54 to a large amount I received. In my sixth year to the
cities on the banks of the river Balikhi
FACE D.
55 I approached. GI'AMMU, their Governor, I smote.
1 Pethor in the Old Testament.
32 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
56 To the city of Tel-abil-akhi I descended.
57 The Euphrates in its upper part I crossed.
58 The tribute of the Kings of the Hittites
59 all of them I received. In those days RIMMON-IDRI'
60 of Damascus, IRKHULINA of Hamath, and the Kings
6 1 of the Hittites and of the sea-coasts to the forces of
each other
62 trusted, and to make war and battle
63 against me came. By the command of ASSUR, the
great Lord, my Lord,
64 with them I fought. A destruction of them I made.
65 Their chariots, their war-carriages, their war-material11 I
took from them.
66 20,500 of their fighting men with arrows I slew.
67 In my seventh year to the cities of KHABINI of the
city of Tel-Abni I went.
68 The city of Tel-Abni, his stronghold, together with the
cities which (were) dependent on it I captured.
69 To the head of the river, the springs of the Tigris, the
place where the waters rise,3 I went.
70 The weapons of ASSUR in the midst (of it) I rested.
Sacrifices for my gods I took. Feasts and rejoicing
71 I made. An image of my Royalty of large size I
constructed. The laws of ASSUR my Lord, the records
72 of my victories, whatsoever in the world I had done,
in the midst of it I wrote. In the middle (of the
country) I set (it) up.
FACE A., base.
73 In my eighth year, MERODACH-SUMA-IDDIN King of
of Gan-Dunias*
1 This is the Ben-hadad of Scripture whose personal name seems to
have been Rimmon-idri.
9 Or, "furniture of battle."
3 Or, " the place of the exit of the waters situated." The tablet is
still to be seen near the town of Egil.
4 That is, Chaldea.
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER. 33
74 did MERODACH-BILA-YU'SATE his foster-brother against
him rebel ;
75 strongly had he fortified (the land). To exact punish-
ment1
76 against MERODACH-SUMA-IDDIN I went The city of
the waters of the Dhurnat " I took.
77 In my ninth campaign a second time to the land of
Accad I went.
78 The city of Gana-nate I besieged. MERODACH-BILA-
YU'SATE exceeding fear
79 of ASSUR (and) MERODACH overwhelmed, and to save
his life to
80 the mountains he ascended. After him I rode. MERO-
DACH-BILA-YU'SATE (and) the officers
8 1 the rebels5 who (were) with him (with) arrows I slew.
To the great fortresses
82 I went Sacrifices in Babylon, Borsippa, (and) Cuthah
I made.
83 Thanksgivings to the great gods I offered up. To the
country of Kaldu4 I descended. Their cities I captured.
84 The tribute of the Kings of the country of Kaldu I
received. The greatness of my arms as far as the sea
overwhelmed.
85 In my tenth year for the eighth time the Euphrates I
crossed. The cities of 'SANGARA of the city of the Car-
chemishians I captured.
86 To the cities of Arame I approached. Arne his royal
city with 100 of his (other) towns I captured.
87 In my eleventh year for the ninth time the Euphrates
I crossed. Cities to a countless number I captured. To
the cities of the Hittites
88 of the land of the Hamathites I went down. Eighty-
1 Or, " to return benefits."
* The Tornadotus of classical geographers.
3 Or, " the Lord of sin."
4 This is the primitive Chaldea. The Caldai or Chaldeans afterwards
overran Babylonia and gave their name to it among classical writers.
VOL. V. 4
34 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
nine cities I took. RIMMON-IDRI of Damascus (and)
twelve of the Kings of the Hittites
89 with one another's forces strengthened themselves. A
destruction of them I made. In my twelfth campaign for
the tenth time the Euphrates I crossed.
90 To the land of Pagar-khubuna I went. Their spoil 1
carried away. In my thirteenth year to the country of
Yaeti I ascended.
91 Their spoil I carried away. In my fourteenth year the
country I assembled ; the Euphrates I crossed. Twelve
Kings against me had come.
92 I fought. A destruction of them I made. In my
fifteenth year among the sources of the Tigris (and)
the Euphrates I went. An image
93 of my Majesty in their hollows I erected. In my
sixteenth year the waters of the Zab I crossed. To the
country of Zimri
94 I went. MERODACH-MUDAMMIK King of the land of
Zimru to save his life (the mountains) ascended. His
treasure
95 .his army (and) his gods to Assyria I brought. YAN'SU
son of KHANBAN to the kingdom over them I raised.1
FACE B., base.
96 In my seventeenth year the Euphrates I crossed. To
the land of Amanus I ascended. Logs
97 of cedar I cut. In my eighteenth year for the six-
teenth time the Euphrates I crossed. HAZAEL
98 of Damascus to battle came. 1,221 of his chariots,
470 of his war-carriages with
99 his camp I took from him. In my nineteenth campaign
for the eighteenth" time the Euphrates I crossed. To
the land of Amanus
100 I ascended. Logs of cedar I cut. In my 2oth year
for the 2oth time the Euphrates
1 Or, « I made."
* The king counts his passage of the river on his return from Syria the
seventeenth time of his crossing the Euphrates.
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER. 35
101 I crossed. To the land of Kahue I went down.
Their cities I captured. Their spoil
102 I carried off. In my 2ist campaign, for the 2ist
time the Euphrates I crossed. To the cities
103 of HAZAEL of Damascus I went. Four of his for-
tresses I took. The tribute of the T^yrians,
104 the Zidonians (and) the Gebalites I received. In my
22nd campaign for the 22nd time the Euphrates
105 I crossed. To the country of Tabalu1 I went down.
In those days (as regards) the 24
1 06 Kings of the country of Tabalu their wealth I
received. To conquer
107 the mines of silver, of salt and of stone for sculpture
I went. In my 23rd year
1 08 the Euphrates I crossed. The city of Uetas, his
strong city,
109 (which belonged) to LALLA of the land of the Mili-
dians I captured. The Kings of the country of Tabalu
no had set out. Their tribute I received. In my 24th
year, the lower Zab
in I crossed. The land of Khalimmur I passed through.
To the land of Zimru
112 I went down. YAN'SU King of the Zimri from the face
113 of my mighty weapons fled and to save his life
114 ascended (the mountains). The cities of 'Sikhisatakh,
Bit-Tamul, Bit-Sacci
115 (and) Bit-Sedi, his strong cities, I captured. His
fighting men I slew.
116 His spoil I carried away. The cities I threw down,
dug up, (and) with fire burned.
117 The rest of them to the mountains ascended. The
peaks of the mountains
118 I attacked, I captured. Their fighting men I slew.
Their spoil (and) their goods
1 The Tubal of the Old Testament and Tibareni of classical
geographers.
36 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
119 I caused to be brought down. From the country of
Zimru I departed. The tribute of 27 Kings
120 of the country of Par'sua1 I received. From the
country of Par'sua I departed. To
121 the strongholds of the country oi the Amadai,1 (and)
the countries o$ Arazias (and) Kharkhar I went down.
122 The cities of Cua-cinda, Khazzanabi, Ermul,
123 (and) Cin-ablila with the cities which were dependent
on them I captured. Their fighting men
FACE c., base.
124 I slew. Their spoil I carried away. The cities I
threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. An image
of my Majesty
125 in the country of Kharkhara I set up. YAN'SU son of
KHABAN with his abundant treasures
126 his gods, his sons, his daughters, his soldiers in large
numbers I carried off. To Assyria I brought (them). In
my 25th campaign
127 the Euphrates at its flood I crossed. The tribute ol
the Kings of the Hittites, all of them, I received. The
country of Amanus
128 I traversed. To the cities of Cat! of the country ol
the Kahuians I descended. The city of Timur, his
strong city,
129 I besieged, I captured. Their fighting men I slew.
Its spoil I carried away. The cities to a countless
number I threw down, dug up,
130 (and) burned with fire. On my return, the city ol
Muru, the strong city of ARAME the son of AGU'SI,
131 (as) a possession for myself I took. Its entrance-
space I marked out. A palace, the seat of my Majesty,
in the middle (of it) I founded.
132 In my 26th year for the seventh time the country of
1 The Parthia of classical authors.
a These seem to be the Madai or Medes of later inscriptions. This is
the first notice that we have of them. It will be observed that they have
not yet penetrated into Media but are still eastward of the Parthians.
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER. 37
the Amanus I traversed. For the fourth time to the
cities of Cati
133 of the country of the Kahuians I went. The city of
Tanacun, the strong city of TULCA I approached. Ex-
ceeding fear
134 of ASSUR my Lord overwhelmed him and (when) he
had come out my feet he took. His hostages I took.
Silver, gold,
135 iron, oxen, (and) sheep, (as) his tribute I received.
From the city of Tanacun I departed. To the country
of Lamena
136 I went. The men collected themselves. An inac-
cessible mountain they occupied. The peak of the
mountain I assailed,
137 I took. Their fighting men I slew. Their spoil,
their oxen, their sheep, from the midst of the mountain
I brought down.
138 Their cities I threw down, dug up (and) burned with
fire. To the city of Khazzi I went. My feet they took.
Silver (and) gold,
139 their tribute, I received. CIRRI, the brother of CATI
to the sovereignty over them
140 I set. On my return, to the country of Amanus I
ascended. Beams of cedar I cut,
141 I removed, to my city Assur ' I brought. In my
27th year the chariots of my armies I mustered. DAYAN-
ASSUR
142 the Tartan,3 the Commander of the wide-spreading
army, at the head of my army to the country of Armenia
I urged,
143 I sent. To Bit-Zamani he descended. Into the low
ground of the city of Ammas he went down. The river
Arzane he crossed.
144 'SEDURI of the country of the Armenians heard, and
to the strength of his numerous host
1 The Ellasar of Genesis, now Kalah Shergat.
3 Turlanu ("chief prince") in Assyrian.
38 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
145 he trusted; and to make conflict (and) battle against
me he came. With him I fought.
146 A destruction of him I made. With the flower of his
youth1 his broad fields I filled. In my 28th year
147 when in the city of Calah I was stopping news had
been brought (me, that) men of the Patinians
148 LUBARNI their Lord had slain (and) 'SuRRi (who was)
not heir to the throne to the kingdom had raised.
149 DAYAN-ASSUR the Tartan, the Commander of the
widespreading army at the head of my host (and) my
camp1
150 I urged, I sent. The Euphrates in its flood he
crossed. In the city of Cinalua his royal city
151 a slaughter he made. (As for) 'SuRRi the usurper,
exceeding fear of ASSUR my Lord
152 overwhelmed him, and the death of his destiny he
went.3 The men of the country of the Patinians from
before the sight of my mighty weapons
FACE D., base.
153 fled, and the children of 'SuRRi together with the
soldiers, the rebels, (whom) they had taken they de-
livered to me.
154 Those soldiers on stakes I fixed. 'SA'SITUR of the
country of Uzza my feet took. To the kingdom
155 over them I placed (him). Silver, gold, lead, bronze,
iron, (and) the horns of wild bulls to a countless number
I received.
156 An image of my Majesty of great size I made. In
the city of Cinalua his royal city in the temple of his
gods I set it up. In
157 my 29th year (my) army (and) camp I urged, I sent.
1 Or, " the chiefs of his young warriors."
3 The word properly means " bag-gage," and sometimes signifies
" standard," which may be the translation here.
3 That is, he died as was fated.
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER. 39
To the country of Cirkhi1 I ascended. Their cities I
threw down,
158 dug up, (and) burned with fire. Their country like a
thunderstorm I swept. Exceeding
159 fear over them I cast. In my 3oth year when in the
city of Calah I was stopping, DAYAN-ASSUR
1 60 the Tartan, the Commander of the wide spreading
army at the head of my army I urged, I sent. The river
Zab
161 he crossed. To the midst of the cities of the city of
Khupusca he approached. The tribute of DATANA
162 of the city of the Khupuscians I received. From the
midst of the cities of the Khupuscians
163 I departed.' To the midst of the cities of Maggubbi
of the country of the Madakhirians he approached.
The tribute
164 I received. From the midst of the cities of the
country of the Madakhirians he departed. To the
midst of the cities of UDACI
165 of the country of the Mannians he approached.
UDACI of the country of the Mannians from before the
sight of my mighty weapons
1 66 fled, and the city of Zirta, his royal city, he aban-
doned. To save his life he ascended (the mountains).
167 After him I pursued. His oxen, his sheep, his spoil,
to a countless amount I brought back. His cities
1 68 I threw down, dug up, (and) burned with fire. From
the country of the Mannians3 he departed. To the
cities of SULU'SUNU of the country of Kharru
169 he approached. The city of Mairsuru, his royal
city, together with the cities which depended on it he
captured. (To) SULU'SUNU
170 together with his sons mercy I granted. To his
1 The mountainous country near the sources of the Tigris.
* That is, in the person of his Commander-in-chief, Dayan-Assur.
J The modern Van.
4O RECORDS OF THE PAST.
country I restored him. A payment (and) tribute of
horses I imposed.
171 My yoke upon him I placed. To the city of Surdira
he approached. The tribute of ARTA-IRRI
172 of the city of the Surdirians I received. To the
country of Par'sua ' I went down. The tribute of the
Kings
173 of the country of Par'sua I received. (As for) the
rest of the country of Par'sua which did not reverence
ASSUR, its cities
174 I captured. Their spoil, their plunder to Assyria I
brought. In my 3ist year, the second time, the cyclical-
feast
175 of ASSUR and RIMMON I had inaugurated.3 At the
time while I was stopping in the city of Calah, DAYAN-
ASSUR
176 the Tartan, the Commander of my wide spreading
army, at the head of my army (and) my camp I urged,
I sent.
177 To the cities of Data of the country of Khupusca he
approached. The tribute I received.
178 To the city of Zapparia, a stronghold of the country
of Muzatsira, I went. The city of Zapparia together
with
179 forty-six cities of the city of the Muzatsirians I
captured. Up to the borders of the country of the
Armenians
1 80 I went. Fifty of their cities I threw down, dug up
(and) burned with fire. To the country of Guzani3 I
went down. The tribute
181 of UPU of the country of the Guzanians, of the
1 Parthia.
* This refers to his assuming the eponymy a second time after com-
pleting- a reign of 30 years. At this period the Assyrian kings assumed
the eponymy on first ascending the throne, and the fact that Shalmaneser
took the same office again in his 3ist year shows that a cycle of thirty
years was in existence.
3 The Gozan of the Old Testament.
BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER. 41
country of the Mannians, of the country of the Buririans,
of the country of the Kharranians,1
182 of the country of the Sasganians, of the country of the
Andians," (and) of the country of the Kharkhanians,
oxen, sheep, (and) horses
183 trained to the yoke I received. To the cities of the
country of .... I went down. The city of Perria
184 (and) the city of Sitivarya, its strongholds, together
with 22 cities which depended upon it, I threw down,
dug up
185 (and) burned with fire. Exceeding fear over them I
cast. To the cities of the Parthians he went
1 86 The cities of Bustu, Sala-khamanu (and) Cini-khamanu,
fortified towns, together with 23 cities
187 which depended upon them I captured. Their
fighting-men I slew. Their spoil I carried off. To the
country of Zimri I went down.
1 88 Exceeding fear of ASSUR (and) MERODACH over-
whelmed them. Their cities they abandoned. To
189 inaccessible mountains they ascended. Two hundred
and fifty of their cities I threw down, dug up (and)
burned with fire.
190 Into the lowground of Sime'si at the head of the
country of Khalman I went down.
THE EPIGRAPHS ACCOMPANYING THE SCULPTURES.
i. The tribute of 'Su'A of the country of the Guzanians :
silver, gold, lead, articles jof bronze, sceptres for the
King's hand, horses (and) camels with double backs : I
received.
ii. The tribute of YAHUA* son of KHUMRI:* silver, gold,
bowls of gold, vessels of gold, goblets of gold, pitchers
of gold, lead, sceptres for the King's hand, (and) staves :
I received.
1 Haran or Harran in the Old Testament, called Carrhae by the
classical geographers.
9 Andia was afterwards incorporated into Assyria by Sargon.
1 Jehu. « Omri.
42 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
in. The tribute of the country of Muzri:1 camels with
double backs, an ox of the river 'Saceya,8 horses, wild
asses, elephants, (and) apes : I received.
iv. The tribute of MERODACH-PAL-ITSTSAR of the country of
the 'Sukhians :3 silver, gold, pitchers of gold, tusks of
the wild bull, staves, antimony, garments of many colours,
(and) linen; I received.
v. The tribute of GARPARUNDA of the country of the
Patinians : silver, gold, lead, bronze, gums, articles
of bronze, tusks of wild bulls, (and) ebony;* I received.
1 This is the Armenian Muzri, not Egypt.
2 This would seem from the sculpture to mean a rhinoceros. M.
Lenormant, however, identifies it with the Yak.
3 Nomadic tribes in the south-west of Babylonia.
4 The word means literally " pieces of strong wood."
43
TIGLATH PILESER II.
TRANSLATED BY
REV. J. M. RO DWELL, M.A.
RECTOR OF ST. ETHELBURGA, E.C.
yiGLATH-PILESER II was king of Assyria
from B.C. 745 to B.C. 727. From the circumstance
that no less than five Hebrew kings are mentioned
in his annals, the greatest interest attaches to the
fragments of his history which have come down to us.
That they are only fragments is deeply to be re-
gretted, especially, as will be seen from the transla-
tions given below, even these are in a deplorably
mutilated and imperfect condition. The kings of
Judah therein mentioned are Azariah and Jehoahaz
(Ahaz) ; the Kings of Israel, Menahem, Pekah and
Hoshea, with their cotemporaries Rezon of Damascus,
Hiram of Tyre, and two queens of Arabia, previously
unknown to history, Zabibi and Samsi. The title of
44 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Rabshakeh mentioned by Isaiah occurs at line 66 of
p. 67, Vol. II of W. A. Inscr. as well as the name of
Merodach Baladan mentioned by the same prophet,
at line 19 of the Nimroud tablet. It need scarcely be
added, that what has been thus providentially preserved,
confirms the general accuracy of 2 Kings xv. especially
which should be carefully compared with them.
The name Tiglath-Pileser or Tiglath-Pilneser pro-
bably means, according to Professor Schrader, (see
his Keilinschriften, pp. 149-151,) who also identifies
him with the Pul of Scripture, " He who puts his
trust in Adar." The corruptions of this name since
the time of the Septuagint translator who gives it as
@a\<yad(f>e\\aaap, by Greek Historians, are curious
enough, viz., Thaglabanasar, Thagaphamasar, Thag-
laphelladar and as a climax Thaglathphalnasar !
The inscriptions of this monarch have been translated
in full by Mr. G. Smith in his Assyrian Discoveries,
pp. 254-287, and partially by M. Menant in his
Annales d$s rois cTAssyric, pp. 137-148.
45
TIGLATH PILESER II.
WAR WITH AZARIAH, KING OF JUDAH.
ABOUT B.C. 739.'
which
feared
9
10
•
ii
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
and .
. . (in the) course of my expedition the tribute
. (AZARI)AH of the land of Judah like ....
. AzARiAH3 of the land of Judah in ....
. without number to heaven were raised ....
. in their eyes like that which from heaven ....
. battle and to my yoke ....
. of Assyria the great they heard and their heart
. I pulled down, I razed ....
. (to AZARI)AH went over and strengthened him
in combat ....
he closed his camp ....
placed and his going forth ....
he brought down and ....
his forces he marshalled up to ....
he caused them to be surrounded and
his great lake ....
1 Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. Ill, p. 9, No. 2.
* Lacuna. The commencement of all the following lines is wanting.
s Compare 2 King's xv. 17. Azariah is the same person as Uzziah who
would therefore seem to have been known by both names. See a valuable
note in Bagster's Comprehensive Bible, p. 434.
46 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
THE WAR OF TIGLATH PILESER IN SYRIA
AND THE EAST.
B.C. 738, 7. (Fragment No. 3.)
1 . . . .' then ....
2 .... (of) AZARIAH .... as a mighty conqueror
3 .... tribute like that of ....
4 .... as his alliance the city of Ma ....
5 .... the cities of Uznu, Sianu, Ma ... ka ... bu,
near the sea as far as the cities of N .... (and) as far
as the land of Saua.
6 The mountain which is in Lebanon obeyed me, the
land of Bahalizephon as far as Ammana the land of
Izku and Saua, throughout its whole extent, the district
of Karanim
7 the city of Hatarika,3 the district of Nuqudina, the
land of Ha"za with the cities of the whole, the city of
Ara .... their helpers,
8 the cities of their whole territory, the land of Sarbua,
the entire mountain, the cities of Ashani and Yadabi and
of Yaraqu the entire mountain,
9 the cities of .... ri, the cities of Illitarbi and Zitanu
to the midst of the city Atinni .... Bumami nineteen
districts.
10 belonging to the city of Hammatti3 together with the
cities which were around them, which are beside the sea
of the setting sun who in seditious rebellion to AZARIAH
had gone over
11 to the boundaries of Assyria I added ; my Civil Officers
as Governors over them I appointed, .... 30,300 . . .
1 This fragment abounds with lacunae.
2 Hadrach. 3 Hamath.
TIGLATH PILESER II. 47
12 .... in their cities and the city of Ku ... I caused
to capture. 1223 men in the land of Alluba did I place.
The people of Quru
13 .... I took the road. The people of Quru across
the river Zab to the conquest of the Ahlamakkazi and the
Gurumi ....
14 .... the Arumu ' who were by the side of the river,
their warriors they slew, their cities they took, their spoil
they carried off ....
15 .... the Arameans came in numbers and .... set
in order the battle array; the Arameans his supporters
they slew ....
1 6 .... to save his life he fled away singly and went up
to the city Birtu of Kinaya. The city of Saragitu ....
1 7 together with the cities of their environs they captured :
12,000 of their people as well as their children, their
oxen, their sheep, ....
1 8 Dira .... to the land of the Hittites, to my presence
they brought : my Viceroy, a man of Lullumi, the city ot
Mulugani ....
19 Kuridannitu belonging to the sons of Babylon, with
the cities of their environs he captured, their warriors (he
slew) ....
20 .... to the land of the Hittites to my presence they
brought. My Viceroy, a man of the land of Nahiri, the
city of Sabargillu
21 .... together with the cities of their environs, cap-
tured ; their spoil he carried away. SIQUILA the Com-
mander of the interior
22 .... to the land of the Hittites to my presence he
brought. 600 women of the city of Amlate of the
Damuni, 5400 women of the city of Dur
1 Arameans.
48 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
23 in the city of Kunalie, .... the city of Huzarra, the
city of Tae, the city of Tarmanazi, the city of Kulmadara,
the city of Hatatirra, the city of Sagillu,
24 in the country of Unqui I placed .... women of the
land of Gutie, of the land of Beth-sangibute, 1200 men of
Illilai, 6208 of the tribes of Nakapai and Badai
25 .... (in) the city of Zimarra, the city of Arqae, the
city of Uznu, the city of Ziannu which were on the sea-
coast I placed. 588 men of the Badai tribe and of the
city of Dunai
26 .... 250 men of the Belai, 544 men of the Banitai,
380 men of Sidu-il-ziri, 460 men of Sagillu
27 .... men of the Illilai, 457 women of the land of
Quti, and of the land of Beth-Sangibute in the district of
the city of Tuhimmi I located ; 555
28 women of Qutie and the city of Beth-sangabute in
the city of Tul-garmi I placed ; with the Assyrians
I reckoned them ; the performance of service like
Assyrians
29 (I imposed upon them). The tribute of KUSTASPI of
the city of Kummuhai, of RAZINU ' of the land of Damas-
cus,' of MINIHIMMI 3 of the city Samirinai,*
30 of HiRUMMU5 of the city of Zurai,6 ISIBITTI BAHAL
of the city Guplai,7 of URIKKI of the land of Quai, of
PISIRIS of the city of Carchemish, of ENIEL
31 of the city of Hamath, PANAMMU Governor of the
city of Samhalai, TARHULARA of the land of Gamgumai,
SULUMAL of Militdai, DADILU
32 of the city of Kaskai, UASSURMI of the land of
Tubalai, UHIDTI of the land of Tunai, URPALLA of the
land of Tuhanai, TUHAMMI of the city of Istundai
33 URIMMI of the city of Husannai, ZABIBIE Queen of
1 Rezin. * Syria. 3 Menahem. 4 Samaria.
5 Hiram. 6 Tyre. 7 Gebal.
TIGLATH PILESER II. 49
the land of Aribi, gold, silver, lead, iron, skins of
buffaloes, horn of buffaloes
34 vestments of wool and linen, tapestries of blue and
purple, strong wood, wood for weapons, slave-girls,
treasures of Royalty, the skins of sheep, their wool
35 of purple dye, birds of the sky, their wing-feathers
of bright blue, horses, horses for the yoke of large size,
oxen, sheep and droves of camels,
36 she camels together with their young ones I received.
In the ninth year of my life ASSUR my Lord protected
me and to the country of, etc., etc., etc.
The following fragment1 refers to the Northern
Campaigns.
1 .... The city of Histu, the city of Harabisina, the
city of Barbaz, the city of Tusa, as far as the river
Ulurus I captured, their warriors I slew, 8650 persons
2 .... 300 horses for the yoke of large size, 660 asses,
1350 oxen and 19,000 sheep I carried away; (the cities)
I pulled down, razed and burned with fire,
3 (their territory) to the borders of Assyria I added.
Those cities I built anew : people of the lands which my
hands had acquired, I placed in the midst (of them)
4 .... in the midst I raised, and to province of Nairi
I added. The cities of Daikansa, Sakka, Ippa, Elisansu,
5 .... Lugadangar, Quda, Elugia, Dania, Danziun,
Ulai, Luqia, Abrania, Evasa
6 (I captured), their warriors I slew, 900 men, 150 oxen,
1000 sheep, horses, horses for the yoke of large size, and
asses I carried off ;
1 Inscriptions of Western Asia, p. 10, No. i.
VOL. V. 5
50 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
7 their cities I pulled down, razed and burned with fire.
The people of the land of Muquani the marshalling of
my expedition beheld, and the city Ura
8 which is in the midst of Muqun ....
9 their sons, their daughters, their families ....
10 I cut off, and in their land ....
1 1 horses, horses for carriages,
12 I pulled down, razed, burned with fire.
13 I captured and slew their warriors ....
TIGLATH PILESER II. 51
Fragment No. 2.'
THE WAR IN PALESTINE.
1 . . . .' the city of Hatarika3 as for the land of
Saua
2 .... (the city) of Zimirra,4 the city of Arqa
3 .... the city of Uznu, (the city of Zihanu, the city
of Ri)hanu, the city of Rihraba, the city of Rihisuzu,
4 .... the cities (on the coast of) the upper sea I
mastered. Six officers
5 (as my Viceroys) over them I appointed . . . Asbuna
which is beside the upper sea,
6 the city Gaal . . .5 . . . Abil6 .... which is the
boundary of the land of Humri 7
7 .... the spacious, throughout its whole extent to the
borders of Assyria I joined,
8 (my Officers) as Viceroys over them I appointed.
HANUNU of the city of Ha'zata'i s
9 who before my arms had fled (and to the land) of
Egypt escaped, (and) Gaza
10 (I captured :) . . . his furniture, his gods . . . and a
couch for My Majesty
11 .... within the palace .... the gods of their land
I distributed and
12 .... I established .... and like a bird
13 .... to his land I brought him back.
14 .... gold, silver, vestments of wool and linen
1 W. A. I., Vol. Ill, p. 10. ' Lacuna. s Hadrach.
4 Or land. Probably the Arkile and Zemarite mentioned in Gen. x.
17, 1 8 as Canaanite tribes. Both were to the West of Lebanon.
5 Gilead. « Abel Beth-maacha.
7 Omri. s Gaza.
52 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
15 .... great .... (I re)ceived. The land of Beth-
Omri1
1 6 .... the population .... the goods of its people
17 (and the furniture to) the land of Assyria I sent
PAKAHA * their King they had slain . . . HUSIH 3
1 8 to the kingdom over them I appointed. 10 talents of
gold, 1000 of silver .... I received from them as their
(tri)bute and
19 to the land of Assyria I sent. SAAMSI the Queen of
the land of Aribu 4 . . . .
20 .... men .... 30,000 camels, 20,000 oxen
21 .... 5000 simi numerous images of her gods
22 .... her valuables I captured. To save her life
23 .... (fled) to Bazil an arid place, like an ass of the
desert 5 and
1 Samaria. * Pekah. 3 Hoshea. 4 Arabia.
5 Comp. Hosea viii. 9, " They are gone up to Assyria a wild ass alone
by himself."
6 The remainder of the text is in too fragmentary a state to present any
details of interest unless it be the fact that Tiglath-Pileser appointed an
officer called Nigabuti in Egypt (Musri), 1. 40. There was however a
country N.E. of the Tigris which bore the same name. Norr. Diet. p. 671.
f
53
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA.
PART II.
CONTINUED FROM VOLUME III.1
BY GEORGE SMITH.
23 GA-SIN-
This monarch is only known as the father of SIN-IDINNA.
24 SIN-I-DIN-NA-A, SIN-I-DIN-NA.
Sin-idinna, by the character of his legends is closely
connected with Rim-agu.
INSCRIPTIONS OF SIN-IDINNA.
5 " .... King of Bit .... his King,
SIN-IDINNA the powerful man,
son of GASIN .... nourisher of (c.)* Ur, King of Larsa,
King of Sumir and Akkad."
5 " SIN-IDINNA the powerful man,
nourisher of (c.) Ur King of (c.) Larsa,
King of Sumir and Akkad,
who the old house to its place restored,
in the throne of Larsa he was firmly established,
1 P. 20.
* The remainder of this King's name is wanting.
* Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 3, No. IX, from Senkereh.
4 This letter (c.) indicates that it is the proper name of a country, while
(g.) that the name is that of a god.
5 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 5, No. XX, from Mugheir.
54 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
powerful soldiers were committed to his hand ;
a delightful river, the river Kibigana,
for the use of the country he excavated,
perennial waters giving everlasting delight
to his city and country, he has established.
Ka-ne-nam-kar-ra-ma-ni (g.) UR
eldest son of BEL marching before him in war,
to intelligent ears he has proclaimed his glory.
In (c.) Ur his renown is established,
Bit-na-nun-na his delight to (g.) UR he built."
ON AN UNPUBLISHED CONE, FROM SENKEREH.
" To (g.) SAMAS, the Lord establisher of life,
the powerful head of heaven,
the highest of the spirits, his King,
SIN-IDINNA the powerful man,
nourisher of (<r.) Ur, King of (c.} Larsa
King of Sumir and Akkad, Bit-parra for his
preservation splendidly built he raised.
By command of (g.) UR and SAMAS in Bit-parra,
and Bit-ner-gal Sin-idinna, for the glory of the spirits,
festivals magnificently he celebrated."
At this time commences a series of dated tablets, which
are of great interest, on account of the insight they give
into the condition and history of Babylonia. These tablets,
record sales and loans,1 all are written in the Turanian
language, but almost all the names are written phonetically
in Semitic; they show us that the method of dating in the
current years of the reigning sovereign was not then in use,
the customary method on most tablets being to date from
some particular event which happened in the year. A similar
method of dating occurs in several passages in the Bible.'
1 See Appendix B. * Compare Isaiah vi. i ; xiv. 28; and xx. i.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 55
Some few tablets are dated in years of an era, and show
us the earliest examples of the use of an era for chrono-
logical purposes.
One of these tablets in the reign of Sin-idinna has the
following date : —
" (Month) Abu (in the year) when
to (g.) Eri-ul-gar-ra (bit-)ganki he built
and .... of gold Sin-idinna King of Larsa .... made."
25 NU-UR-VUL.
Nur-vul rebuilt some of the temples at Ur, and his
inscription was found near those of Kudur-mabuk and
Ardu-sin. Although Nur-vul ruled after the capital was
transferred from Ur to Larsa, the worship of Samas god of
Larsa, had not yet advanced sufficiently to cause his
name to be united with that of Ur on the contract tablets,
from which I infer that Nur-vul ruled soon after the capital
was changed.
INSCRIPTIONS OF NUR-VUL.
1 " To (g.) UR his King, NUR-VUL the powerful man,
the ruler of (c.) Ur, King of Larsa,
Bit-rubmah, Bit-minuni Bit-galzib to (g.) UR
and (g.) NINGAL in (<:.) Ur he built."
CHALDEAN CONTRACT TABLET OF THE REIGN OF NUR-VUL.
This tablet is a lease of some land for eight years, at the
price of i^ manehs of silver. The parties to the contract
we are told, " By the name of (g.) UR and NUR-VUL the
King swore." The date of the contract was in the " month
Debitu in the year when a lofty throne with gold for (g.)
SAMAS he decorated"
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 2, No. IV, from Mugheir.
56 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
26 AI . . . .
27 A-MAT-NIM ....
These are fragments of the names of the two prede-
cessors of Sargon I.1
28 SAR-GI-NA.
Sargina I, or Sargon I, was one of the most celebrated
of these ancient kings, and is often alluded to in the inscrip-
tions. No original text of this reign is known, but we have
two imperfect Assyrian copies of one of his inscriptions, part
of which is printed in the Cuneiform Inscriptions:* a few
new lines can now be added to this fragment, and part of
the next column.
INSCRIPTION OF SARGON.
3 " SARGINA the powerful King, King of Agade am I.
My mother was enceint, my father knew not (of it).
My father's brother oppressed the country.
In the city of Azupirani, which by the side
of the Euphrates is situated, she conceived me ;
my mother was enceint, and in a grove brought me forth ;
she placed me in a cradle of wicker,
with bitumen my exit she closed, and launched me
on the river, which away from her carried me.
The river to AKKI the Abal floated me,
AKKI the Abal in tenderness of bowels lifted me ;
AKKI the Abal as his child brought me up ;
AKKI the Abal as his husbandman placed me,
and in my husbandry ISHTAR prospered me . . .
45 years, the kingdom I took.
The people of the dark races I ruled,
* They are only known from the list printed in Cuneiform Inscriptions,
Vol. 2, p. 65.
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 4, No. VII.
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 4, No. VII.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 57
I .... over difficult countries,
in chariots of bronze I rode. I governed
the upper countries (I rule) the Kings
of the Lower Countries, . . .
ti-ti-sal-lat I besieged a third time,
ASMUN submitted DUR-AN-KI-GAL bowed
I destroyed and
When the King who arises after me in after (days)
the people of the dark races (shall rule) over
difficult countries in chariots of (bronze shall ride)
shall govern the upper countries (and rule) the Kings
of the Lower Countries . . . ti-ti-sal-lat shall
besiege the third time (ASMUN submitting)
DUR-AN-KI-GAL bowing .... from my city Agane . . . ."
This is evidently the text of an usurper, who pretends to
be the son of a former monarch. There is a striking parallel
between some points in this story, and the account in
Exodus ii, of the concealment of the infant Moses. Sargon
is often mentioned on the astrological and omen tablets, and
an edition of those works was probably written in his reign.
Many of the inscriptions on these tablets appear to belong
to an earlier epoch, when the city of Ur was the national
capital, but all these were incorporated with the tablets of
Sargon and his son Naram-sin, and formed two great works,
one on astrology or celestial omens, the other on terrestrial
omens. He built a city called Dur-sargina, and we probably
owe the preservation of this curious inscription, in which
he states his early history, to the Assyrian king Sargon, who
named himself after the earlier monarch, and also founded
a city which is called Dur-sargina.
The further history of Sargon I, after he ascended the
throne, is given on a tablet, which I did not discover until
after the first part of this work had gone to press. This
tablet, which is one of the most remarkable records in the
58 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
British Museum, gives the history of Sargon and of his son
and successor Naram-sin ; it is divided into fourteen para-
graphs, by lines drawn across the tablet, each paragraph
containing the account of one war or other celebrated event.
At the head of every paragraph is a description of the omen
from the Moon under which the work was undertaken, for
the Babylonians never started on an expedition, or com-
menced any work without consulting the omens ; and even
the great king Nebuchadnezzar is recorded ' to have done
the same.
The first paragraph of the history of Sargon records a
successful campaign in Elam, east of Babylonia, but Sargon
does not appear to have met the Elamite monarch; the
barbarous custom of mutilating the bodies of the enemy was
practised by the Babylonians in this war.
The second division records a campaign in Syria, in
which the king was again successful. It appears from the
statement in this paragraph, that the kiprat arba, or four
races, were in Syria, and that the title " King of the four
races " indicated supremacy over Syria. This name " kiprat
arba" was probably given to the Syrians on account of there
being four races or principal states in that region. A similar
division is given in Genesis x, 23, where Aram (Syria) has
four sons or divisions, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash, corre-
sponding with the four races of the Babylonian inscriptions.
The third clause relates the subjugation of all Babylonia,
and the foundation of the new capital city Agane, which
Sargon peopled with the conquered races.
The fourth and fifth paragraphs relate to campaigns in
Syria ; both are unfortunately much mutilated.
The sixth division is too mutilated to make much out of
it ; it may refer to a former period of the history.
The seventh clause records the greatest campaign of the
1 Ezekiel xxi. 21, 22.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 59
reign, it occupied three years, and in it Sargon penetrated
to the sea of the setting sun (the Mediterranean) ; here he
conquered the country, and set up memorial statues in com-
memoration of his triumph. At the close of this expedition,
the spoil of these distant regions was carried in triumph to
Babylonia.
The eighth division records the enlargement of the palace
of Agani by Sargon, who named it Ekiam-izillik.
The ninth paragraph gives an account of the revolt of
Kas-tu-bi-li of Ka-zal-la. Sargon made an expedition to
Kazalla, and wasted the country with fire and sword.
In the next division we find a change of fortune, Sargon,
who had carried his arms from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean, was now closely besieged in his own capital
Agani, but he made a sally with his army, and, attacking the
surrounding hosts, defeated them and obliged them to raise
the siege and retire with the loss of their baggage. The
besieging host is called by the name mak-kaka-bi, which I
conjecturally read Kaldi or Chaldeans, but the meaning of
the expression I should rather think to be " all countries."
The tenth paragraph shows Sargon resuming his career
of conquest ; he now attacked the kingdom of Subartu and
conquered it ; he occupied their territory, destroyed their
army, and finally entered his capital Akkad with the spoil.
The history of the reign of Sargon now closes, and the rest
of this important inscription relates to the exploits of his
son and successor Naram-sin.
The following is a translation of the inscription, omitting
the astrological omens, several of which are imperfect, and
all of them difficult,
i " When the moon," &c., &c.' An omen for Sargina,
who at this position
1 The astronomical indications are omitted, not being required for
historical information.
60 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
2 to Elam marched, and the Elamites destroyed,
3 their overthrow he accomplished their limbs he cut off.
4 When the moon, &c., &c.
5 An omen for SARGINA, who to Syria marched and
6 the Syrians destroyed; the four races his hand con-
quered.
7 When the moon, &c., &c.
8 An omen for SARGINA, who at this position the whole
of Babylonia subdued, and
9 the dust of the spoil of Babduna removed and
10 . . . (c.) Akkad the city he built ki its
name he proclaimed
11 in the midst he placed.
12 (When the moon), &c., &c.
13 &c. (An omen for SARGI-)NA, who at this
position to Syria
14 (marched, and the) four races his hand conquered.
15 (When the moon), &c., &c.
1 6 (An omen for SARGINA, who at this position to) Syria
marched, and
17 his his leaders
1 8 ...... in the gate of his rising.
19 (When the moon), &c., &c. (An omen for SARGI)NA,
who at this position
20 rz' his left hand? ISTAR ....
21 caused him to conquer; to the front
his .
22 (When the moon), &c., &c. An omen for SARGINA,
who at this position
23 arose, and an equal or rival had not, his
forces over
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 6 1
24 (the countries of) the sea of the setting sun he crossed,
and in the third year at the setting sun
25 .... his hand conquered, under one command he
caused them to be only fixed, his image at the setting sun
26 he set up, their spoil in the countries of the sea he
made to cross.
27 (When the moon), &c., &c.
28 (An omen) for SARGINA, who his palace padi five bathu
enlarged
29 ... chief of the people established and Ekiam-izallak
he called it
30 When the moon, &c., &c.
31 &c. The same. KASTU-BILA of Kazalla re-
volted against him ; and to Kazalla
32 he marched, and their men he fought against, their
overthrow he accomplished,
33 their great army he destroyed ; Kazalla to mounds and
ruins he reduced,
34 the nests of the birds he swept away.
35 When the moon, &c., &c,
36 &c. An omen for SARGINA, of whom at this
position,
37 the elders of the people revolted against him, and in
Akkad surrounded him, and
38 SARGINA came out and their men he fought against,
their overthrow he accomplished.
REVERSE.
1 their great army he destroyed.
2 the encampment he broke through.
3 When the moon, &c., &c.
4 &c. &c.
62 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
5 An omen for SARGINA, who at this position
6 Subarti in its strength its people to the sword he
subdued, and
7 SARGINA their seats caused to occupy, and
8 their men he fought against, their overthrow he accom-
plished, their great army
9 ... the spoil he collected, into (<:.) Akkad he caused
to enter.
10 When the moon, &c., &c.
1 1 &c. An omen for NARAM-SIN,
1 2 who at this position to (c.) Apirak marched, and
13 ip-lu-su RIS-VUL King of (c.} Apirak
14 and (c.) Apirak his hand conquered.
15 When the moon, &c., &c.
1 6 &c. An omen for NARAM-SIN, who at this
position
17 (to Ma-)ganna marched, and Maganna he captured,
and
1 8 King of Maganna his hand conquered.
19 seven and one-half to after him . . .
20 may they not gather i-ba
The tablet contains at the end a colophon, which states
that it is a copy made by order of a king of Assyria, whose
name is lost by a fracture.
Sargon, who was one of the most memorable of the early
kings of Babylonia, was a great builder, as well as a warrior ;
besides the rebuilding of his palace at Akkad, which is men-
tioned in this tablet, he also built a great temple at Akkad,
dedicated to the goddess Anunit. The site of the city of
Akkad has not yet been discovered, so at present we are not
acquainted with the ruins of Sargon's buildings, but an
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 63
account of the temple of Anunit is found in an inscription of
Nabonidus, the last native king of Babylon : his statement
is as follows : — '
" (The memorial cylinders) of BITULMAS of
(c.) Akkad from the time of (SAR-GINA)
King of (c.) Babylon and NARAM-SIN his son
the very ancient kings, to the time of
NABU-NAHID King of (c.) Babylon were not seen."
29 NA-RA-AM-SIN, NA-RAM-SIN.
Naram-sin the son and successor of Sargon is mentioned
in the two last inscriptions. He appears by the historical
tablet to have continued the conquests of his father, subju-
gating the kingdom of Apirak and afterwards that of
Maganna. The name of the conquered king of Apirak is
Ris-vul, which is Babylonian, and leads to the inference that
Apirak was in or near Babylonia. Among the cities of
Babylonia, the nearest name to Apirak is Karrak, which we
know to have been a capital at this time. The reading
Karrak is not quite certain, as the first character kar, is
a polyphone, so that the name may possibly be Apirak.
Maganna was the most ancient cuneiform name of Egypt,
and the conquest of this country might lead us to suspect
that Naram-sin invaded Egypt: hence the loss of the name
of the conquered king of Maganna is a misfortune; but
there may have been another country called Magan, nearer
to Babylonia, in the same way that in later times there were
two countries named Muzur. There is an inscription of
Naram-sin on a vase which was discovered by M. Fresnel at
Babylon, and since lost in the Tigris ; the inscription' reads,
" NARAMSIN King of the four races, conqueror of Apirak
and Magan." A large omen tablet which was composed
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 69, col. 2, lines 29-32.
f Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 3, No. VII.
64 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
during this reign has, with reference to one omen, the notice
that it was " good " or " lucky for NARAM-SIN."
Another fragment of an inscription ' which gives the
names of some of the Babylonian-kings, does not contain
the name of Naram-sin the successor of Sargon, but I
attribute this to the imperfect state of the fragment
30 ELLAT-GULA.
Ellat-gula was a queen, she probably succeeded Naram-sin
and was the last of the dynasty of Sargon. Nothing is
known of her reign, and at its close, Hammurabi a foreign
prince, who was perhaps related to her by marriage, suc-
ceeded to her throne.
The history must now travel again to the south of the
country which was ruled at this time by Rim-agu, the last
native monarch.
31 RI-IM-AGU.
Rim-agu was the son of Kudurmabuk; he was made
King of (c.) Larsa during his father's lifetime. Extensive
remains of buildings erected by Rim-agu have been dis-
covered, and in his inscriptions he claims to have restored
many of the national temples,
INSCRIPTIONS OF RIM-AGU.
3 " RIM-AGU the powerful man, the high Ruler,
established by (g.) BEL nourisher of (<:.) Ur,
King of (c.) Larsa, King of Sumir and Akkad,
son of KUDUR-MABUK the Lord of Elam,
(c.} Ur the great he embellished,
its he established, (g.) UR my King blessed me,
the great wall of Harris-galla to prevent invasion,
its circuit I raised I built, the city I encircled,
the great tower of (g.) UR strongly I constructed."
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 65.
* Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. I, p. 5, No. XVI, from Mugheir.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 65
ON AN UNPUBLISHED CONE.
" (£•.) UR Lord of spirits and angels ....
my King RIM-AGU nourisher of the temple,
head Ruler of Bit-nergal the renowned man,
Lord of Bit-parra, mizkin of ancient (c.) Eridu,
who the religious festivals keeps,
Bit-hansa of (c.) Zirgulla its site he restored,
its great ramparts his hands made,
UR and SAMAS .... to their places he restored.
The Prince his begetter Bit-sarna for his life
established .... in the service of his Lord
who marches before him, for the preservation of his life
he built his house, also he restored its site,
and the four houses of Saggal, for his preservation
and the preservation of KUDUR-MABUK
the father his begetter, the house with rejoicing Bit-tingal
he built,
a statue before the house he '...."
" To (g.) NIN .... bil gal-lu dub-ba ram-e ki-ka-de
zi-gal-zu luh-mah lib-ka-va ' great god
his command si-ku-du his King,
RIM-AGU ruler of the lordship of (c.) Nipur
mizkin of ancient (c.) Eridu,
nourisher of (c.) Ur and Bit-uddaimtiz,
King of ({.) Larsa, King of Sumir and Akkad,
worshipper of (^.) ANU (g.) BEL and (f.) HEA,
the great gods- who the ancient city of Uruk
into my hands have given.
To NIN- my King, exalter of my right hand,
Bit-daram-semu the sanctuary of his delight,
for my preservation I built"
Besides this inscription there are several tablets dated in
1 The interpretation being very difficult and doubtful, the whole passage
is here transliterated.
VOL. V. G
66 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
the reign of Rim-agu, which give us some notice of the events
of his reign. Probably the earliest of these are the tablets
dated in the year of the fall of Karrak. One of these has
upon it part of the name of Rim-agu. Now this city of
Karrak I have suspected to be the same as the Apirak
taken by Naram-agu, and I further supposed that Rim-agu was
the Turanian form of Naram-sin, but these are only supposi-
tions and I have since considered them erroneous. It is
more probable that Naram-agu ruled in the north of Babylonia,
while Rim-agu ruled at Larsa over the south. Karrak appears
to have retained its position as a capital, until it fell before
the arms of Rim-agu, and was annexed to the kingdom of
Larsa. Rim-agu from this date ruled the whole of the
country from Nipur to the Persian Gulf. The dates in this
year are as follows : "Month Nisannu 25th day in the year
when the powerful soldiers of (g.) ANU (g.) BEL and (g.)
HEA (<:.) Karrak the royal city captured;" and "Month
Nisannu 3oth day in the year when the (powerful) soldiers
of (ANU) (g.) BEL and (g.) HEA (<:.) Karrak the royal city
captured." In both these dates the month is uncertain ; but
I may here remark that I suspect, from the dates on some of
these tablets, that the year at this time commenced with the
month Tisri at the autumnal equinox, instead of with the
month Nisan at the vernal equinox ; for in two instances on
these early tablets the intercalary month is placed between
Elul and Tisri.
The Babylonians attached so great an interest to the
capture of Karrak that they commenced dating from it as
an era, and the following dates from it are in the British
Museum; all of these fall within the reign of Rim-agu : —
" Month Ululu in the fifth year
after Karrak was captured."
" Month Addaru 3oth day in the sixth year after
Karrak was captured."
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 67
In this tablet Rim-agu bears the title " King of (c.) Larsa
and (c.) Ur.
" Month Addani 3oth day in the seventh year
after Karrak was captured."
" Month Nisannu in the eighth year after
Karrak (was captured)."
" Month Tasritu 3oth day in the thirteenth year
after Karrak by the living ruler RIM-AGU was captured."
" Month Sabadu in the eighteenth year
after Karrak was captured."
"Month Sabadu loth day in the twenty-eighth
year after Karrak was captured."
Beside the dates from the era of the taking of Karrak,
there are several others of the time of Rim-agu. Two of these
are dated in the year when Rim-agu placed two bronze statues
in the Temple of the Sun, they are : —
" Month Davazu in the year when two
bronze statues RIM-AGU the King in Bit-parra placed.
" Month Sabadu in the year when two
bronze statues RIM-AGU the King in Bit-parra placed."
Another tablet is dated,
" Month Duvazu in the year when the
river Ud-kas-nun(P) was excavated."
And two others,
" Month Tasritu in the year
when the great wall of Bellu was built"
In the case of one document the inside copy reads,
" Month Abu in the year when the river Tigris was exca-
vated ; " while the outside copy reads, " Month Abu in the
year when the river Tigris, the river of the gods, to the
ocean was excavated." From these notices I suppose that
Rim-agu whose name is attached to all these documents
made a channel from the Tigris to the sea.
68 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Another document is dated as follows : " Month Sabadu
in the year when (c.) Kisure he occupied and his powerful
warriors (g.} BEL gave him in numbers and (c.) Dur-an he
conquered."
This notice refers to a war in Upper Babylonia, both
Kisure and Dur-an being in that part of the country : there
is no clue at present as to the date of this war.
Two of the last documents of the reign of Rim-agu point
to an invasion of South Babylonia by the king of the upper
country, most probably Hammurabi, This first incursion
Rim-agu claims to have repulsed. These documents are
dated, one, " Month Kisilivu in the year when RIM-AGU the
King the evil enemy " — here there seems a word wanting.
The other is dated, "Month Sabadu in the year when
RIM-AGU the King (g.} NIN-MAHE of Bit-saptu-mur the
foundation of heaven and earth the kingdom and
people and the evil enemy of the upper region to
his presence did not return." The history of the next
monarch Hammurabi, shows however, that Rim-agu allied
himself with the Elamites, but was ultimately defeated by
Hammurabi, who then united the whole of Babylonia under
one sceptre.
32 HA-MU-RA-BI, HA-AM-MU-RA-BI,
HA-AM-MU-RA-BI, HA-AM-MU-U-RA-BI.
Ellat-gula the last sovereign of the race of Sargon had
been succeeded in Akkad by a foreigner named Hammurabi.
The tribe to which Hammurabi belonged is not stated in
the inscriptions, but as one of the kings of this dynasty is
called king of the Kassi, and as the Kassi are stated in the
Synchronous History to have been predominant in Babylonia
at that time, I suppose he belonged to that tribe. Of the
circumstances under which he ascended the throne we know
nothing ; his reign forms, however, one of the most remark-
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 69
able epochs in Babylonian history. In spite of the brilliant
reigns of Sargon and Naram-sin, who ruled in Upper Baby-
lonia, the most important seats of dominion had hitherto
been in the lower country. With the reign of Hammurabi
all this was changed. On ascending the throne of the house
of Sargon, Hammurabi fixed his capital at a city then called
Dindur, which was hereafter named Bab-ili or " The Gate of
god." This city was the Babel of the Bible, the renowned
city of Babylon. From the time when Hammurabi fixed his
court at Babylon, that city continued to be the capital of the
country down to the time of the conquest of Babylonia by
the Persians. The deity chosen by Hammurabi as the
head of his worship and the god of his capital was Maruduk
or Merodach, who, according to the Babylonian system of
mythology, was the son of Hea, the sea god or Neptune, the
presiding deity of the city of Eridu.
To Merodach a grand temple was erected at Babylon,
called Bit-saggal. This temple was most probably built by
Hammurabi, as it was already in existence in the reign of
his successor Samsu-iluna. The account of the building of
this temple is found on a mutilated tablet written in the two
languages, Turanian and Semitic, which probably belongs
to this reign. I translate it as the first text of Hammurabi : —
" Babylon people he made
(Bit-sagga)l in the gate of the deep a delightful house
he built,
that (house) with shouting and joy he completed.
its head to the heaven he raised.
in the gate of the sea worship and delightful
devotion to the image of his divinity he caused to be
offered. (To MARUDUK) and ZIRPANIT a shrine beauti-
ful and delightful (he made, and in) a firm seat he seated
them.
to his heart he opened.
70 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
good he
joy he established
....'.... music night and day he caused (to be per-
formed)
head of the country he established."
The " gate of the deep " here mentioned, was probably
in the district of Babylon next the Euphrates, where the
great temple of Merodach, or Bel was built.
After obtaining possession of Northern Babylonia, or
Akkad, and fixing his capital at Babylon, Hammurabi made
war on the southern portion of the country, then ruled by
Rim-agu. His first attack was probably the invasion which
Rim-agu claims to have repulsed ; if so, however, this success
only gave a short breathing time to the kingdom of Rim-agu.
Hammurabi again attacked him ; and, although the king of
Larsa called in the aid of the Elamites, he and his allies
were defeated in a decisive battle by Hammurabi, who now
took possession of the rest of the country. The triumph of
Hammurabi is recorded in the two following inscriptions : —
" Month Sabadu 22nd day in the year
when HAMMURABI the King in the service of (g.) ANU
and (g.) BEL triumphantly marched,
and the Lord of Elam and King RIM-AGU he overthrew."
And—
" Month Nisannu in the year when
HAMMURABI the King in the service of (g.) ANU
and (g.) BEL triumphantly marched."
From this year, when Hammurabi took possession of
Larsa, the dated tablets record the principal events of his
reign ; some of these show that in one year he proclaimed
or announced the worship of a goddess named Urmitu, who
is not mentioned until this time. Urmitu was called the
consort of Nabu or Nebo, the son of Hammurabi's great
divinity Maruduk. These tablets are as follows : —
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 71
" Month Ululu i oth day in the year when
HAMMURABI the King (g.) URMITU proclaimed"
" Month Ululu 2ist day in the year when
(g.) URMITU he proclaimed."
" Month Samna i3th day in the year when
HAMMURABI the King (g.) URMITU proclaimed."
" Month Debitu in the year when
HAMMURABI the King (g.) URMITU proclaimed."
" Month Sabadu in the year when
HAMMURABI the King (g.) URMITU proclaimed." t
" Month Tasritu 4th day in the year when
HAMMURABI the King (g.) URMITU proclaimed."
"Month Debitu icth day in the year when (g.) URMITU."
Another section of these tablets commemorates the year
when Hammurabi restored the temple of Mite-urris at the
city of Kis ; here he built, in addition to the temple, a
Ziggurrat or tower, dedicated to the deity Zamana, the top
of which, in the figurative language of the Babylonians, is said
to have reached unto heaven. This Ziggurrat afterwards
bore the name of the " tower of the country," and is now
represented by the mound of Hymer, north-east of Babylon.
The tablets of this year read : —
" Month Airu in the year when
HAMMURABI the King Bit-mite-urris restored."
" Month Airu 23rd day in the year when
HAMMURABI the King Bi-mite-urris restored."
"Month Ululu i oth day in the year when
HAMMURABI the King Bit-mite-urris restored."
" Month Airu in the year when HAMMURABI
the King Bit-mite-urris restored,
and the great tower of (g.) ZAMAMA the spirit,
its top reaching to heaven he built."
" Month Addaru 4th day in the year
when HAMMURABI the King Bit-mite-urris restored,
72 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
and the great tower of (g.) ZAMAMA the spirit,
its top reaching to heaven he built."
Three of the dated tablets of the reign of Hammurabi
refer to some decoration or work executed for the deities
Anu, Anunit, and Nana. The dates of this year I read with
some doubt.
" Month Sabadu i3th day in the year
when HAMMURABI the King to (g.) ANU
(g.) ANUNIT and (g.) NANA
adorned and Bit-silim-kalamma he restored."
" Month Addaru in the year when HAMMURABI
the King (g.) ANU (g.) ANUNIT and NANA adorned."
" Month Addaru in the year of (g.) ANU
(g.) ANUNIT and (g.) NANA."
The next three dates record a calamity which was always
liable to occur in the districts overflowed by the rivers.
One of these annual inundations in the time of Hammurabi
carried away the city of Mullias. These dates are : —
" Month Samna in the year when Mullias
by a great flood was destroyed."
The second document has the same date and wording.
The third is :—
" Month Tasritu in the year when
Mullias by a great flood was destroyed."
Three other dated tablets were inscribed in the year
when Hammurabi built a wall or embankment along the
River Tigris, probably to restrain the inundation ; this wall
he named Kara-samas.
" Month Debitu in the year when
the great wall Kara-samas he built."
" Month Debitu in the year when HAMMURABI
the King the great wall of Kara-samas built."
" Month Ululu in the year when HAMMURABI
the King a great wall along the Tigris,
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 73
its top like a mountain raised,
Kara-samas its name is called ; he built it."
The two remaining dated tablets of this reign record the
destruction of the walls of Mairu, Malalnak, and Kitu by
Hammurabi, probably in some of his military expeditions.
These dates are : —
"Month of Abu i3th day in the year when HAMMURABI
the King (by command of (g.} BEL) the wall
of (f.) Mairu and the wall of (c.) Malalnak destroyed."
"Month Kisilivu 25th day in the year
when by command of (g.) BEL the side of the wall
of Kitu was destroyed."
Besides the inscriptions on these dated tablets there are
five other texts of Hammurabi. The principal of these is
the Semitic Inscription at Paris, translations of which have
been published by M. Menant and Mr. Fox Talbot. This
inscription commemorates the excavating of a canal, in that
country a most important work. I translate it as follows: —
" HAMMURABI the powerful king, King of Babylon,
the King renowned through the four races,
conqueror of the enemies of MARUDUK,
the ruler the delight of his heart am I.
When ANU and BEL the people of Sumir
and Akkad to my dominion gave,
powerful adversaries into my hand they delivered.
The river Hammurabi-nuhus-nisi '
flowing waters giving pleasure to the people
of Sumir and Akkad I excavated,
the whole of its banks to its course I restored,
the entire channel I filled, perennial waters
for the people of Sumir and Akkad I established.
' The people of Sumir and Akkad
their chief men I gathered,
1 Hammurabi the delight of men.
74 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
authority and possessions I established to them,
delight and pleasure I spread out to them,
in luxurious seats I seated them.
Then I HAMMURABI the powerful King
blessed by the great gods ;
with the powerful forces which MARUDUK gave me,
a great wall with much earth,
its top like a mountain raised,
along the river Hammurabi-nuhus-nisi I made."
There are eight other lines much mutilated. I feel
uncertain about the restoration of this part of the inscription.
The high wall or embankment here mentioned may be the
same as the one mentioned in the dated tablets.
The next inscription of Hammurabi is on a tablet in the
British Museum,1 from the city of Zarilab, where he built
a temple to the principal goddess of the place : —
"To (g.) NANA of (c.) Zarilab mistress of worship,
glory of heaven and earth, his Lady,
HAMMURABI proclaimed by (g.) ANU and (g.) BEL,
blessed by (g.) SAMAS, the joy of the heart of MARUDUK,
delight of the heart of NANA, the powerful King,
King of (<r.) Babylon, King of Sumir and Akkad,
King of the four races, King of regions
which the great gods in his hands have placed.
When (g.) NANA the people of Sumir and Akkad
to his dominion gave, his enemies into his hands she
delivered. To (g.) NANA his delight, in (c.) Zarilab
the city of Her Royalty, her delightful house he built."
The allusions in these inscriptions to his enemies being
delivered into his hand when he took the dominion of Sumir
and Akkad, probably refer to his triumph over Rim-agu.
Another inscription of Hammurabi/ is found on bricks
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 4, No. XV, i.
3 Cumiform Inscriptions, p. 4, No. XV, 2.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 75
from the Ziggurrat or tower attached to the Temple of the
Sun at Larsa, which he built This inscription reads : —
" HAMMURABI the powerful king,
King of (c.) Babylon, King of the four races,
builder of Bit-parra, the Temple of the Sun
in the city of Larsa,"
Respecting this tower of Hammurabi there is a frag-
mentary passage in the broken cylinder of Nabonidus,1
which is very curious. It reads : —
" for 700 years was
not (finished its building) a tower
over (that memorial cylinder) to (g.) SAMAS
he had built within (it) my heart
delighted in the matter, from round the cylinder
which HAMMURABI (had made), not a particle had escaped,
not a particle had entered."
This fragmentary passage refers to a cylinder of Ham-
murabi which, according to Nabonidus, was found intact in
its chamber in the corner of the tower. According to the
statement on the cylinder, the building had been founded
700 years before the time of Hammurabi ; and, as it was
probably founded by Urukh, this may be taken as an indica-
tion that Hammurabi considered that monarch to have lived
700 years before his time.
At the city of Kilmad, now Kalwadha, near Baghdad,
Hammurabi built a palace ; and some bronze rings have been
found there with the inscription, " Palace of HAMMURABI."
The remaining inscription of this monarch is on a fragment
of black stone found by Ker Porter in the ruin of Hymer,
north-east of Babylon. This mound, as before noted, marks
the site of the tower built by Hammurabi to the deity
Zamama. So far as the dated tablets go, they would seem
to indicate that the reign of Hammurabi was short, as there
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 69, col. 2, line 4.
76 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
are only tablets made in about ten years of his reign, and
along with them tablets of about ten years of the reign of
his supposed successor Samsu-iluna. Now it is singular
that the name of Samsu-iluna is absent from the list of these
kings on the tablet of royal names already quoted.
33 SA-AM-SU-(I)-LU-NA, SA-AM-SU-I-LU-AN/
The name of Samsu-iluna, although as common on the
dated contract tablets as that of Hammu-rabi, is never
found on any public monument. The dated tablets of the
reign of Samsu-iluna give us the following facts of his
reign.
A number of these tablets relate to one year when he
excavated a canal, called in these inscriptions the river
Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi.
These dates are : —
" Month Airu 6th day in the year when the river
of SAMSU-ILUNA the river Nagab-nuhsi (he excavated)."
" Month Airu 1 2th day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King the river
Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated. "
" Month Abu in the year when SAMSU-ILUNA
the King the river Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated."
" Month Ululu 3rd day in the year when the
river Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated."
" Month Ululu 1 5th day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King the river
Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated. "
" Month Ululu 3oth day in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King the river
Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated. "
" Month Samna 4th day in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King the river
Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated. "
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 77
" Month Debitu in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King the river
Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated. "
" Month Sabadu 5th day in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King
the river Samsu-iluna-nagab-nuhsi excavated." '
Another series of these tablets records the raising of a
mound or wall, and the digging of a canal round the city of
Sargon ; these tablets are as follows : —
" Month Tasritu 8th day in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King the circuit of Sargina a mound and
canal
round its sides for its protection he raised."
" Month Nisannu 5th day in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King (the circuit)
of Sargina (a canal) and mound round its sides."
" Month the second Ululu in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King the circuit of Sargina
a mound and canal round its sides."
" Month Tasritu 8th day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King the circuit of Sargina
a mound and canal round its sides."
The devotion of Samsu-iluna to the worship of the
Babylonian divinities is shown by a number of these tablets,
which relate that he made figures of limazi or cherubim, as
emblems of the deities Shamas and Merodach : these were
overlaid with gold, and placed some in the temple of Bit-
saggal at Babylon before the presence of Merodach, and
others in the temple of the Sun at Larsa before the presence
of Shamas. The dates are : —
" Month Samna loth day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King ;
1 This canal is mentioned in a list of rivers and canals printed in
Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 51.
78 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
of SAMAS and MARUDUK their emblems made,
images he carved of cherubim overlaid with gold,
in Bit-parra before the presence of SAMAS, and in
Bit-saggal before the presence of MARUDUK he placed."
" Month Samna 24th day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King ;
of SAMAS and MARUDUK their emblems made,
images he carved of cherubim overlaid with gold,
in Bit-parra before the presence of SAMAS, and in
Bit-saggal before the presence of MARUDUK he placed."
"Month Tasritu loth day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King
images carved of cherubim overlaid with gold."
" Month Tasritu i5th day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King
images carved of cherubim overlaid with gold."
" Month Tasritu 2oth day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King
images carved of cherubim overlaid with gold."
" Month Samna zoth day in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King
images carved of cherubim overlaid with gold."1
Two other tablets appear to refer to the year of accession
of Samsu-iluna, and are probably to be placed earlier than
the tablets translated above ; these are : —
" Month Kisiliou in the year
when SAMSU-ILUNA the King,
by the august will of MARUDUK
to the supremacy of the countries was raised."
" Month Samna 3oth day in the year when
SAMSU-ILUNA the King, by the august will of MARUDUK."
There are four other dates from events in the reign of
Samsu-iluna : these it is at present difficult to translate
1 See i Kings vi. 23.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 79
literally : one is dated in the month Nisannu, 2oth day, in a
year when Samsu-iluna dedicated a statue adorned with gold
and silver in the temple of Merodach ; and two others refer
to a throne which the monarch dedicated to the deity Ur ;
the fourth date is unintelligible at present.
34 AM-MI-DI-KA-GA.
The name of Ammidi-kaga occurs in the list of kings
after that of Hammurabi ; he is not otherwise known.
35 KU-UR-GAL-ZU.
This monarch follows next in the list. There are several
monuments bearing the name of Kuri-galzu or Kur-galzu
but they appear to belong to a later king of the same name.
36 SIM-MAS-SI-HU, SI-IM-MAS-SI-HU.
The name of this king follows Kur-galzu in the list, and
a tablet dated in his twelfth year is in the British Museum.
This tablet records that three brothers named Muranu,
Gatiya, and Musallimu, sons of Bel-usati, were slaves of
Bea son of Iriba-sin, and were sold by him to separate
masters; the transaction being dated in "The month
Debitu, 1 2th day, i2th year of SIMMAS-SIHU the King."
37 U-LAM-BUR-YA-A-AS.
Ulam-buryas succeeded Simmas-sihu, according to the
list, but he has left no monuments.
38 NA-ZI-URU-DAS.
Nazi-urudas, the next king in the list, has also left no
records.
39 MI-LI-SI-HU.
Mili-sihu follows Nazi-urudas, according to the list The
first element in the name Mili is equivalent to nisu, " a
man."
80 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
40 BUR-NA-BUR-YA-A-AS.
This monarch is probably the first bearing the name
Burna-buryas ; a later king of the same name has left some
inscriptions. Bnrna is equivalent to the Assyrian ki-din.
41 KA-ARA-BEL.
This name is the last in our fragmentary list of monarchs ;
here there is a break in the succession, until we come, to
Harbi-sihu. To this interval perhaps belongs the following
monarch : —
42 SA-GA-SAL-TI-YA-AS.
Saga-saltiyas is mentioned in an inscription of Nabonidus,1
he appears to have rebuilt the temples of the Sun and
Venus at Sippara. The passage is as follows :
" digging the memorial cylinder of Bit-ulmas
written record of SAGA-SALTIYAS .... (in) that
digging I saw also ... his written record, recorded :
'(SAGA-SALTIYAS) the supreme ruler,
the glorious prince .... am I.
When (g.) SAMAS and (g.) ANUNIT
to the dominion of the country my name proclaimed,
the power of all people in my hand they placed.
Then Bit-parra the house of (g.) SAMAS
of (c.} Sippara my Lord, and Bit-ulmas
the house of ANUNIT of (c.) Sippara,
(g.) ANUNIT my Lady, which were from the time
of Zabu in ancient days ;
their chamber walls had fallen in.
Their chamber walls I destroyed,
their foundations I opened, the earth I removed,
their chambers I cleared, their structure
I caused to make, I filled their foundations with earth,
I restored their walls to their places.
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 69, col. 3, lines 19 to 43.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 8 1
I beautified their structure, greater than before
I caused them to be, to please (g.) SAM AS
and (g.) ANUNIT. At my building work
may their heart rejoice . . .
progress to my days may they give,
exaltation to my head
prosperity to my years, giving delight for ever ....
supremacy of temple justice may they give,
long life may they grant me.'
This is the written record of SAGA-SALTIYAS
King of Babylon the former king,
who Bit-ulmas of Sippara to ANUNIT built ;
his memorial cylinder," etc.
This text is remarkable, as in it Nabonidus gives the copy
of the record of Saga-saltiyas, which he states that he found
when digging the foundations of Bit-uhnas.
43 HAR-BI-SI-HU.
This king is mentioned on an Assyrian tablet, which
gives an account of some controversies between Babylonia
and Assyria. The style of the tablet is very difficult, and I
cannot give a complete translation, but I gather from this
and other sources the following details. Assyria had been
rising in power. Its first rulers were called Patesi or
" Viceroys " of Assur, at this time they had assumed the
title " Lord of countries," and a ruler named Assur-zikir-esir
governed Assyria ; he was succeeded by Ninip-tugulu-assur,
who has the title " Lord of countries," and who was engaged
in the controversy with Harbi-sihu.
44 KA-RA-IN-DA-AS.
1 With this monarch, who reigned in the i5th century B.C.,
Babylonian history becomes a little more certain. Kara-indas
was the contemporary of Assur-bel-nisi-su, King of Assyria.
1 About B.C. 1475.
VOL. V. 7
#2 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
These two monarchs whose dominions joined, came to an
agreement respecting the boundary line of their respective
dominions ; this transaction is described in a tablet called
11 The Synchronous History of Assyria and Babylonia."1 The
affairs of Kara-indas are related in col. i, lines i to 4, as
follows : —
" KARA-INDAS King of Kar-dunias,
and ASSUR-BEL-NISI-SU King of Assyria,
a covenant in their borders with each other covenanted,
and a pledge concerning those boundaries
to each other gave."
There are two unpublished inscriptions of Kara-indas in
the British Museum, in which he takes the titles king of
Kar-dunias and king of the Kassu (or Kassi). These are
the only Babylonian inscriptions in which these two titles
occur ; the text is as follows : —
" To (g.) NAN A Lady of Bit-anna, his Lady,
KARA-INDAS the powerful King, King of (c.) Babylon.
King of Sumir and Akkad, King of Kassu,
King of Karuduniyas, Bit-anna the house built."
The name of the Kassu is written Ka-as-su-u, and Karu-
duniyas is written Ka-ru-du-ni-ya-as.
45 BUR-NA-BUR-YA-AS, BUR-NA-BU-RI-YA-AS.
BUR-NA-BUR-YA-A-AS.
3 This monarch, the successor of Kara-indas, was contem-
porary with Buzur-assur king of Assyria, he continued the
treaty with Assyria. The Synchronous History speaks of
him as follows, lines 5 to 7 :
" BUZUR-ASSUR King of Assyria
and BURNA-BURYAS King of Kar-dunias, settled,
and those respective boundaries established."
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 65. * About B.C. 1450.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 83
There is an inscription of Burna-buryas from the Temple
of the Sun at Larsa.
INSCRIPTION OF BURNA-BURIYAS, FROM SENKEREH.
1 " To SAMAS great Lord of heaven and earth,
the powerful Ruler, the living spirit of Larsa,
his King, BURNA-BURIYAS the powerful King,
King of Babylon, King of Sumir and Akkad,
Bit-parra the old house, which in remote days
had been constructed, he built, its site he restored."
This old house, constructed in remote days, was the
temple built by Urukh, some of the foundation bricks of
which still remain.
We now come to a difficulty ; the Synchronous History
informs us that the next king of Assyria, Assur-ubalid,
married his daughter to the king of Babylon ; but we are
left in doubt whether Burna-buryas, or his son, was king
of Babylon at this time ; a son of Burna-buryas named Kuri-
galzu or Durigalzu, has left some monuments ; but it has
been suggested that he was placed on the throne some years
later by the Assyrians.
46 KA-RA-HAR-DA-AS.
* Kara-hardas was the offspring of the marriage between,
Muballidat-serua, daughter of Assur-ubalid, king of Assyria
and the king of Babylon, and he ascended the Babylonian
throne ; but the Kassi made a revolt against him, and
murdered him, and placed an usurper named Nazi-bugas on
the throne. The account in the Synchronous History, lines
8 to 12, is :
" In the time of ASSUR-UBALID King of Assyria,
KARA-HARDAS King of Kar-dunias
son of MUBALLIDAT-SERUA daughter of ASSUR-UBALID ;
the men of the Kassi revolted and slew him.
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 4, No. XIII. * About B.C. 1425.
84 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
NAZI-BUGAS a man of low parentage
to the kingdom to be over them they raised."
47 NA-ZI-BU-GA-AS.
1 Under this reign, we are informed in the Synchronous
History that a king of Assyria (whose name is lost by the
mutilation of the tablet) made an expedition to Babylonia,
defeated and slew Nazi-bugas, and placed some relative of
Burna-buriyas on the throne; this passage is in lines 13 to
17, as follows : —
" to avenge (KARA-HARDAS)
to Kar-dunias marched,
(NAZI-BUGAS King of Kar-du)-nias he slew,
(DURRI-GALZU(P) SOn of BUR)NA-BURYAS
(in the throne he seated)."
48 KU-RI-GAL-ZU, KU-UR-GAL-ZU.
1 The passage given above I have restored, inserting the
name of Kuri-galzu, who is known to have been the son of
Burna-buryas. Kuri-galzu restored many of the old Baby-
lonian temples and built a city which was named after himself
Dur-kuri-galzu.
INSCRIPTIONS OF KURI-GALZU.
3 "To (g.) BEL King of the earth, his King,
KURI-GALZU High Priest of (g.) BEL,
Bit-u-gal of his delight its tower he has built."
+ " (To (g.) UR his King), KURI-GALZU
High Priest of (g.) BEL, the powerful King,
King of Sumir and Akkad, King of the four races,
Bit-rub-mah the old house, which from remote days
had been long constructed, I built, its site I restored."
This building had been founded by Urukh, restored by
1 About B.C. 1400. * About B.C. 1375.
3 From Mound of Tel Aswad (Akkerkuf ), Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i,
p. 4, No. XIV. i.
4 Cuneiform hiscri-ptions, W.A., Vol. i, p. 4, No. XIV, 2 and 3.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 85
Ismi-dagan, again restored by Kudur-mabuk, and was now
rebuilt by Kuri-galzu ; bricks of all four epochs were found
on the spot by explorers.
On a circular ornament : —
" KURI-GALZU King of nations son of
BURNA-BURYAS King of (c.) Babylon."
On the pupil of the eye from a statue : —
"To (g.) MARUDUK his King,
KURI-GALZU son of BURNA-BURIYAS, made."
From the time of Kuri-galzu there is a break in the
history of Babylonia, and we know nothing of its rulers
until we come to Tugulti-ninip.1
49 TUGULTI-NINIP.
1 Tugulti-ninip was king of Assyria and conquered
Babylonia, thus uniting the whole Euphrates valley under
one sceptre. A fragmentary inscription of Tugulti-ninip is
in the _ British Museum, but he is chiefly known by the
notices of his reign in the inscriptions of two later kings ;
these are : —
1 Extract from the Genealogy of Vul-nirari III : — '
" Descendant of TUGULTI-NINIP King of Assyria
King of Sumir and Akkad."
2 Tablet of Sennacherib : — 3
" TUGULTI-NINIP King of nations, son of
SALIMAN-USUR King of Assyria, conqueror of Kar-dunias.
The destroyer of my writing and my record, may ASSUR,*
and VUL his name from his country
root out "
This was upon the seal of zamat stone : —
" This seal from Assyria to Akkad in war was carried off.
' I have since found the names of Mili-sihu, son of Kuri-galzu and
Mi-rodach Baladan son of Mili-sihu.
3 About B.C. 1300. J Cuneiform J>iscriptions,Vo\. i, p. 35, No. Ill, lines 19, 2O.
4 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 4, No. II.
86 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
I SIN-AHI-IRIBA King of Assyria, after 600 years
Babylon conquered, and from the goods of Babylon
caused it to be brought out."
50 VUL-PAL-I-DIN-NA, VUL-PAL-I-DI-NA.
This monarch, who has left two inscriptions, is, I believe,
the king whose mutilated name is found on a fragment of
the Synchronous History.1
This passage is as follows : —
" BEL-KUDUR-UZUR King of Assyria
had slain BEL-KUDUR-UZUR. VUL-(PAL-IDINNA) ....
in the midst of the war also NINIP-PAL-ESIR
to his country returned. His numerous warriors
(he gathered and) to (c.} Assur
to capture it he marched, (NINIP-PAL-ESIR)
in his camp attacked him and overcame him,
and (to his country he returned)."
This passage appears to mention the killing of Bel-
kudur-uzur king of Assyria, and a war between his successor
Ninip-pal-esir and the king of Babylon. The Babylonian
monarch advancing to capture Assur the capital of Assyria,
where he was attacked and driven back by the Assyrian
king.
On an inscription of Vul-pal-idinna from Hymer : —
" VUL-PAL-IDINNA King of (c.} Babylon Bit-mite-urris
the tower of (g.} ZAMAMA . . . built "
There is a second inscription of Vul-pal-idinna3 which I
translate as follows : —
" VUL-PAL-IDINNA King of (c.) Babylon built
Nimit-maruduk the wall, and the ditch
of the wall of (c.} Nipur to BEL his Lord."
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 4, No. Ill, lines 19 to 24.
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 5, No. XXII, from Hymer.
3 Oppert's Inscriptions de Dour-Sarkayan.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 87
51 ZA-MA-MA-ZIKIR-IDDINA.
' In the reign of this monarch, Assur-dan King of Assyria
son of Ninip-pal-eser, invaded Babylonia and ravaged the
country, carrying the spoil to Assyria. This is recorded in
the Synchronous History.'
"In the time of ZAMAMA-ZIKIR-IDDINA
King of (Kar-dunias), ASSUR-DAN King of Assyria
to Kardunias (marched), the cities of Zaba,
Irriya, and Agarsal (he captured, and)
(their spoil) in abundance to Assyria (he carried)."
52 NABU-KUDUR-UZUR.
*Nabu-kudur-uzur, or Nebuchadnezzar I, was contemporary
with Assur-risilim king of Assyria, grandson of the Assur-dan
mentioned above. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Assyria three
times ; the details of two of these invasions are given in the
Synchronous History ; the account of the first is un-
fortunately lost. The history runs as follows : —
4 " and to his country returned.
After this NABU-(KUDUR-UZUR) his nibise took,
to the Zanqi border of Assyria to capture he marched,
ASSUR-RISILIM King of Assyria his chariots
gathered to march against him,
NABU-KUDUR-UZUR when the nibise would not advance,
his baggage in the fire burned,
and was compelled to return to his country.
NABU-KUDUR-UZUR his chariots and charioteers
to the Idi border of Assyria to capture marched,
ASSUR-RISILIM his chariots and charioteers
to the assistance sent, with him he fought,
his overthrow he accomplished, his warriors he slew ;
his army he forsook, fifty of his chariots
1 About B.C. 1 200. * Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 4, lines 25 to 28.
5 About B.C. 1 150. 4 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 65, col. 2, lines I to 13.
88 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
and harness they had taken,
a standard going before him they had taken."
53 MARUDUK-NADIN-AHI.
1 Maruduk-nadin-ahi governed Babylon during the time ot
Tugulti-pal-esir king of Assyria, son of Assur-risilim. He
twice made war with Assyria ; the first time he defeated
Tiglath-Pileser and captured the city of Ekali, carrying
away the images of the Assyrian gods Vul and Sala ; these
images remained in the hands of the Babylonians 418 years,
until they were recovered by Sennacherib on his conquest of
Babylon. The notice of this war is found in the Bavian
Inscription of Sennacherib."
" VUL and SALA the gods of Ekali which
MARUDUK-NADIN-AHI King of Akkad,
. in the time of TUGULTI-PAL-ESIR King of Assyria,
had carried off and brought to Babylon,
after 418 years from Babylon I brought them out
and to Ekali to their places I restored them."
The Synchronous History of Babylonia and Assyria gives
no details of this war, which was disastrous to the Assyrian
arms, but it records a second campaign commenced by a
battle in the neighbourhood of the lower Zab, in which
Tiglath-Pileser recovered the advantage, and, pursuing
Maruduk-nadin-ahi into Babylonia, overran the whole of the
upper country as far as Babylon ; this account is given
thus : 3
" TUGULTI-PAL-ESIR King of Assyria
with MARUDUK-NADIN-AHI King of Kardunias,
the second time the line of battle of all the chariots,
over against the city of the lower Zab,
1 About B.C. 1125. * Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 14, lines 48 to 50.
3 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 65, col. 2, lines 14 to 24.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 89
in the vicinity of Ar-zuhina made. In the second year
in the whole of upper Akkad
he destroyed, the cities Dur-kurigalzu,
Sippar of Samas, Sippar of Anunit, Babili, and Upe,
great cities, and their fortresses,
at that time from (c.) Agarsal to (c.) Lubdi he spoiled,
from Suhi (Shua) to (c.} Rapiqi
through its whole extent (he conquered)."
In the British Museum there are two contracts dated in
the reign of Maruduk-nadin-ahi,1 the date of one is : "City of
Babylon month Sabadu in the first year of MARUDUK-NADIN-
AHI the King." The second1 is dated " City of Dindu . . .
month Ululu 2yth day, zoth year of MARUDUK-NADIN-AHI
the King." This document is interesting, from the number
of witnesses to the contract.
54 MARUDUK-SA-PI-IK-ZIR-RAT.
JThis monarch was contemporary with Assur-bel-kala, king
of Assyria, who was son of Tiglath-Pileser I. In the time of
these monarchs, the two states of Babylonia and Assyria
were on friendly terms, but on the death of Maruduk-sapik-
zirrat the Babylonians raised to the throne a man, part only
of whose name is preserved.
55 SAD-U-NI.4
5 This monarch appears not to have been of a royal race,
and his accession broke the truce which had existed between
Assyria and Babylonia ; Assur-bel-kala king of Assyria then
invaded Babylonia, and claims to have returned to Assyria
with the spoil of the expedition. These events are recorded
in the following passage from the Synchronous History,6
added to by a new fragment : —
1 One is published, Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 66.
* Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 43.
5 About B.C. 1 100. 4 The first portion of this name is missing.
5 About B.C. 1080. 6 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 65, line 25.
9O RECORDS OF THE PAST.
" In the time of ASSUR-BEL-KALA King of Assyria
(and) MARUDUK-SAPIK-ZIRRAT King of Babylonia
(a treaty) concluding peace (with)
each other they made.
(In the time of ASSUR-BEL-)KALA King of Assyria
(MARUDUK-SAPIK-ZIRRAT King of) Kar-dunias
his death took him SADUNI
of unknown parentage (to the kingdom over)
them they appointed.
(ASSUR-BEL-KALA) King of Assyria (to Kar-duni-)as
went (their spoil) to Assyria he brought "
56 NABU-ZIKUR-ISKUN.
1 This monarch is mentioned in a fragmentary passage of
the Synchronous History, which states that in his time the
Assyrians invaded Babylonia and took some cities, including
Bag-dadu* the passage is as follows : —
" NABU-ZIKIR-ISKUN
fought and his overthrow accomplished ....
ban-bala, (c.) Bagdadu . . . great cities
(he captured and) their spoil in abundance (to Assyria)
he brought nimati his death then took
him their daughters to each other they gave,
a treaty concluding peace with each other they made,
and the people of Assyria and Akkad
with each other traded.
From the mound of Bit-bara which is over Zaba,
to the mound of Batani and
of (c.} Zabdani, the boundary was established."
So far as our records go, it appears that this state ot peace
continued with only one interruption for about 150 years,
and when war recommenced in the time of Assur-nazir-pal
1 About B.C. 1050. * Modern Baghdad.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 91
king of Assyria, the two countries occupied the same boun-
daries that are here described.
57 IRI-BA-MARUDUK, IRIBA-MARUDUK.
The date of this monarch is unknown, and I only place
him here provisionally ; he is known from an inscription on
a weight in the form of a duck and a text of his son
Maruduk-bal-iddina. The text on the weight is as follows r
" Thirty mana-gina of the palace
of IRIBA-MARUDUK King of Babylon."
58 MARUDUK-BAL-IDDINA.
A monarch bearing this name reigned at Babylon during
the time of Sargon and Sennacherib, kings of Assyria. I
have assumed that the king of the brick inscription is an
earlier monarch of the same name, because he gives the name
of his father Iriba-maruduk a Babylonian monarch, while the
Maruduk-bal-iddina of the time of Sargon is generally called
son of Yakin. The royal name on the brick,1 has hitherto been
read Maruduk-iddin-ahi, but on a close inspection of the brick
I find that this reading is erroneous. The inscription reads :
"To (g.) NIN-DIMIRRI Mistress of the earth
his Lady MARUDUK-BAL-IDDINA King of (c.) Babylon
son of IRIBA-MARUDUK King of Sumir and Akkad
Bit-anna the house of her delight built"
59 SI-BIR.
' This monarch is mentioned in the inscriptions of Assur-
nazir-pal king of Assyria, his date is uncertain ; the notice of
Sibir is as follows : 3
" (c.} Adlila which SIBIR King of Kar-dunias
had captured and destroyed
and to mounds and ruins had reduced
ASSUR-NAZIR-PAL King of Assyria again took."
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 5, No. XVII. * About B.C. probably 1000.
5 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. I, p. 22, line 84.
92 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
60 NABU-BAL-IDDINA.
1 Nabu-bal-iddina king of Babylonia is mentioned in
several inscriptions; he first appears upon the scene
B.C. 879, when Assur-nazir-pal king of Assyria attacked the
Suhi or Shuhites. Sadudu king of Suhi received aid from
the Kassi, and Nabu-bal-idinna sent him fifty chariots, but
Sududu and his allies were defeated, and Suhi conquered by
the Assyrians."
" (c.} Sum the fortified city of Sadudu of Suhi I attacked.
To the numerous warriors of the Kassi he trusted,
and to make war and fight to my presence came.
The city I attacked and after two days' fighting,
I forced an entrance. From the face of my
powerful soldiers SADUDU with 70 of his men,
to save his life into the Euphrates threw himself.
The city I captured. 50 chariots and their soldiers
of NABU-BAL-IDDINA King of Kar-dunias,
ZABDANU his brother and 3,000 of their fighting men,
BEL-BAL-IDDINA the officer who went before their army,
with them in hand I captured,
many soldiers with the sword I destroyed.
Silver, gold, lead, kami sadi* stone shining,
the goods of his palace, chariots,
horses trained to the yoke, harness of men,
harness of horses, the females of his palace,
his great spoil I carried off;
the city I pulled down and destroyed.
Glory and power over Suhi I obtained.
The fear of my dominion to Kar-dunias reached,
the terror of my soldiers over Kaldu (Chaldea) swept."
After the failure of his attempt to assist the Suhi, Nabu-
1 About B.C. 880 to 853.
2 The account of this war is given in Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i,
p. 23, lines 16 to 24.
3 Unknown stone.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 93
bal-iddina made peace with Assyria, which lasted until his
death about B.C. 853. In the British Museum there are
some fragments of a treaty made between Nabu-bal-iddina
king of Kar-dunias and Shalmaneser son of Assur-nazir-pal
king of Assyria.
6 1 MARUDUK-ZIKIR-IZKUR.
1 This monarch the reading of whose name is uncertain,
was the son of Nabu-bal-iddina, and succeeded his father
about B.C. 753. The foster-brother of Maruduk-zikir-izkur
named Maruduk-bel-usate, then revolted against him, and
took from him the province of Akkad. These events
brought about the interference of Shalmaneser king of
Assyria, who made two expeditions to Babylonia to assist
Maruduk-zikir-izkur; the first in B.C. 852, when he advanced
as far as the river Turnat and took the cities of Meturnat
and Lahiru ; the second in the next year, when he
killed Maruduk-bel-usate, and advanced to Babylon ; here
he received the submission of the Chaldees. There are
four different accounts of these events, they are :
1 " To avenge MARUDUK-ZIKIR-IZKUR to Akkad I marched,
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE I slew.
To (f.) Kuti (Cutha) (c.) Babili and (c.) Bar-sip (Borsippa)
I entered, my sacrifices and libations to the gods
of the cities of Akkad I poured out
To Kaldi 1 descended, the tribute of the
Kings of Kaldi all of them I received."
J " In my eighth year4
MARUDUK-ZIKIR-IZKUR King of Kar-dunias,
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE his foster-brother against him
revolted. Swiftly to avenge MARUDUK-ZIKUR-IZKUR
1 About B.C. 753 to 730.
1 Layard, Inscriptions, p. 76, lines 14 to 20, on base of Statue.
5 Layard, Inscriptions, p. 91, lines 73 to 84, on Black Obelisk.
4 Or expedition. The word pal some translate year, others expedition.
94 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
I marched and (c.} Me-turnat I captured.
In my ninth year a second time to Akkad
I marched, (c.} Gananate I besieged.
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE terrible fear of ASSUR
and MARUDUK overwhelmed him,
and to save his life to the mountains he ascended ;
after him I pursued.
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE and the rebels with him,
with the sword I destroyed.
To the great cities I marched,
sacrifices and libations in Babili, Barsip,
and Kute I made, offerings to the great gods I portioned.
To Kaldi I descended, their cities I captured,
the tribute of the Kings of Kaldi I received,
the terror of my soldiers to the ocean swept."
* " In my eighth year in the time of
MARUDUK-ZIKIR-IZKUR King of Kar-dunias,
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE his brother against him revolted :
to avenge (him) I marched
(c.} Meturnat and (c.) Lahiru I captured.
In my ninth year in my second expedition
(<;.) Gananate I captured. MARUDUK-BEL-USATE
to save his life to (c.) Halman fled, after him I pursued,
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE and the rebels with him,
with the sword, I destroyed. To (c.} Babili I went,
sacrifices and libations in Babili, Barsip,
and Kute I made. To Kaldi I descended,
their cities I captured, to the sea which
Marute is called, I marched.
The tribute of ADINI son of DAKURI,
and MUSALLIM-MARUDUK son of UKANI,
silver, gold, valuable wood and horns of oxen
in (c.} Babili I received."
1 Layard, Inscriptions, p. 15, lines 23 to 29, on Back of Bull.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 95
1 In the time of SALIMANU-USUR King of Assyria
and NABU-BAL-IDDINA King of Kar-dunias,
a treaty concluding peace with each other they made.
In the time of SALIMANU-USUR King of Assyria,
NABU-BAL-IDDINA King of Kar-dunias
his death took him, MARUDUK-ZIKIR-IZKUR
in the throne of his father sat,
MARUDUK-BEL-USATE his brother
against him revolted and captured Akkad.
Swiftly to avenge, SALIMANU-USUR King of Assyria
to the aid of MARUDUK-ZIKIR-IZKUR
King of Kar-dunias marched. MARUDUK-BEL-USATE
the rebel king and the rebels who were with him,
he slew. To Kute Babili "
The treaty between Shalmaneser and Nabu-bal-iddina
here mentioned, is probably the one, fragments of which are
in the British Museum.
62 MARUDUK-BALAD-SU-IQBI.
* This monarch is known to us from an inscription of
Samsi-vul king of Assyria,3 which gives the following account
of an invasion of Babylonia by the Assyrians : —
" In my fourth expedition, the fifteenth day of Sivanu,
to Kar-dunias I went.
The river Zab I crossed.
In the neighbourhood of (<r.) Zaddi
and (c.) Zaba crossing the ridges of the mountains,
three powerful lions I slew.
Ebih I passed through : (c.) Me-turnat I besieged ;
terrible fear of ASSUR and MARUDUK
the great gods my Lords overwhelmed them,
my yoke they took. Those people I brought out,
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 65, lines 45 to 68.
* About B.C. 730 to 710.
* Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 34, col. 3, line 70 to col. 4, line 45.
96 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
and with their goods and their gods
to the midst of my country I brought them.
To the people of my country I appointed them.
The river Turnat in its flood I crossed,
(c.) Garsale his royal city, and 200 cities round it,
I pulled down, destroyed, and in the fire burned.
Yalman I passed through : (c.} Dihibina I besieged ;
the terror of ASSUR overwhelmed them,
my yoke they took. 300 cities and their people,
their goods, and their furniture,
from the midst of that city I brought them.
(c.) Datebir, (c.} Iz . . . ya which are beside
(c.) Ganasutikanu, and 200 cities round them I captured,
330 of their warriors I slew, their spoil, their goods,
their furniture, and their gods I carried off,
their plantations I trampled on,
their cities I pulled down, destroyed,
and in the fire burned. The people who
before my powerful soldiers fled,
to (c.} Kiribti-alani their fortress entered ;
that city I attacked, I captured.
500 of their warriors I slew, their spoil,
their goods, their furniture, their gods,
their oxen, and their sheep, I carried off.
The city I pulled down, destroyed,
and in the fire burned.
Akkad and Kaldi, which from before
the terribleness of my powerful soldiers,
making my fierce attack, who knew no rest :
feared, and to (c.} Dur-papsukul the royal city
(which like an island in the river,
in the midst of the waters was situated ;
for attacking by my army it was difficult)
and into 447 cities round it, they entered.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 97
That city in my course I captured,
3,000 of their fighting men with the sword I destroyed ;
their blood like a stream of water the neighbourhood
of their city I caused to spread over.
The slain of their army in heaps I piled.
3,000 alive in hand I captured.
His royal carriage, the treasures of his palace,
the women of his palace alive, his goods,
his furniture, his gods of his palace
without number from the midst of that city
I carried off, the slain of his army like ....
to the army of my country, were consumed.
That city I pulled down, destroyed, and in the fire burned.
MARUDUK-BALAD-SU-IQBI to the might
of his army trusted, and the Chaldeans,
Elamites, Zimri, and Arameans,
with his great army without number he gathered,
to make war and fight to my presence he came.
Over Ahadaba, in the vicinity of Dur-papsukul
the fortress, his army he placed.
With him I fought, his overthrow I accomplished,
5,000 slain of the people I left,
2,000 alive in hand I captured, 100 of his chariots,
200 of his war carriages, his royal pavilion,
parasol, and his camp I took from him."
The account of this expedition of the Assyrian army
shows that the Assyrians did not advance much beyond the
River Turnat. The whole affair reads like a sudden raid into
a country unprepared and taken by surprise. No advance
into the interior of the country is claimed, and although the
force assembled by Maruduk-balad-su-iqbi was defeated, no
permanent results appear to have followed.
The date of this expedition is uncertain, but it probably
took place between B.C. 820 and 815.
VOL. v. 8
98 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Samsi-vul again marched into Babylonia in B.C. 815. The
statement of this expedition is found in the Canon History,
which is completed as follows : — '
" Eponym MUSIK-SAR the Tartan.
To the city of Diri the great god to the city of Deri
descended."
The meaning of the great god descending is unknown ;
this deity was the presiding god of Deri. Two other expedi-
tions are mentioned in the Canon History during this reign,
B.C. 813 and 812, they are : —
" Eponym SAMAS-KUMUA prefect of Salmat. To Kaldi."
" Eponym NABU-QATI-ZABAT prefect of Arbaha.
To Babylon."
The inscriptions supply no details of these three wars."
63 SA-AM-MU-RA-MAT, (SEMIRAMIS).
1 This queen was the wife of Vulnirari king of Assyria,
she is usually included among the Babylonian sovereigns,
but I doubt if she was in any way connected with that
country. One inscription mentioning her is known,3 it is
on a stone statue of Nebo, erected by the governor of Calah
in honour of Semiramis and her husband.
The Assyrian Canon History registers five expeditions
to Babylonia during this reign, these were in the years
B.C. 796, 795, 791, 783, and 782. They are given as
follows : —
" Eponym MARUDUK-SADUA prefect of Salmat.
To the city of Deri."
" Eponym KIN-ABUA prefect of Tushan.
To the city of Deri."
" Eponym KIMA-SAMAS prefect of Isana. To Ituha."
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 52, line 3. 5 About B.C. 800.
3 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. i, p. 35, No. II.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 99
" Eponym NINIP-NAZIR prefect of Mazamua. To Ituha."
" Eponym ILVA-LIHA prefect of Nazibina. To Ituha."
No details of any of these expeditions are given, but in
an inscription printed in the Cuneiform Inscriptions ' there
is the following reference to Chaldea : —
" The Kings of Kaldi all of them submission made,
taxes and tribute for after days over them I fixed.
Babili, Barsip, and Kuti the offerings of BEL, NABU,
and NERGAL brought, sacrifices and libations valuable."
The history of Babylonia again becomes a blank, until we
come to the time of Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, B.C. 745.
In the interval of thirty-seven years, from the end of the
reign of Vulnirari to the accession of Tiglath-Pileser, there
were four expeditions to Babylonia, in the years B.C. 777,
771, 769, and 767^ which are related as follows : —
" Eponym NABU-ISDI-UKIN the Tugulu. To Ituha."
" Eponym ASSUR-DAN King of Assyria.
To (f.) Gannanati."
" Eponym BEL-ILAI prefect of Arbaha. To Ituha."
" Eponym QURDI-ASSUR prefect of Ahi-zuhina.
To (f.) Gannanati."
As in all the former notices, we have no details of these
expeditions
64 NABONASSAR.
* The name of Nabonassar has not been found among the
Babylonian kings mentioned in the Cuneiform Inscriptions,
but private persons bearing the name are mentioned. This
name is written Na-bi-u-na-zi-ir and Nabu-nazir, Nabonassar
king of Babylon, whose reign is recorded in Ptolemy's
Canon, was contemporary with the first part of the reign of
Tiglath-Pileser II king of Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser invaded
Babylonia in B.C. 745, and has left four records of his ex-
1 Vol. i, p. 35, No. I. * About B.C. 747 to 733.
100 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
pedition, but he does not mention Nabonassar or allude to
any king as reigning in this district. The two principal of
these accounts are as follows : '
" them and they went.
Those cities a second time I built ;
over the mound of Kamri which the city of Humut
they call a city I built, from its foundation
to its summit I constructed, I completed.
A palace a seat of my Royalty in the midst I fixed,
Kar-assur its name I called,
the soldiers of ASSUR in the midst I set up,
people of countries the conquests of my hand
in the midst I placed them,
with the men of Assyria I placed them.
The river Patti .... which from days remote
had been I excavated and
within it I enclosed refreshing waters
Dur-kurigalzu, Sipar of Samas,
Pazitu of the Dunaites, Kisik, the Nakri, the Tane,
Kalain, the river Sumandasi .... of the Dunani,
Qirbutu . . . le, Budu, Pahhaz, and Qinnipur,
cities of Kar-dunias to the midst of the river
Ukne I possessed,
to the borders of Assyria I added.
My General prefect over them I appointed.
From among their sheep and oxen which I
captured 240 sheep .... to ASSUR my Lord I ...
those .... which I
captured in the government of the Tartan,
the government of the Lord of the palace,
the government of the Rab-bitur,
the government of Barhaziya, and the government
of Mazamua ... I placed,
1 Layard, hiscriptions, p. 52.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. IOI
under one command I caused them to be,
and with the people of Assyria I settled them.
The yoke of ASSUR my Lord
which placed .... my
my a second time I arranged,
and Assyria to a city I built,
a palace a seat of my Royalty
its name I called, the soldiers of ASSUR my Lord
in with the people of Assyria I placed them.
A statue which by the might
of ASSUR my Lord over the countries I had
ten talents of gold to dante,
one hundred talents of
his tribute I received."
" The tribes of Ituha, Rubuha, Hamarani,
Luhua, Harilu, Rubbu, Rapiqu, Hiranu, Rabilu,
Naziru, Gulusu, Nabatu, Rahiqu, Ka
Rummulusu, Adile, Kipre, Ubudu, Gurumu,
Bagdadu, Hindaru, Damunu, Dunanu, Nilqu Rade,
Da . . . . , Ubulu, Karmaha, Amlatu, Ruha, Qabiha,
Lehitau, Marusu, Amatu, Hagaranu,
and the cities of Dur-kurigalzu, Adile,
Birtu of Sarragitu, Birtu of Labbanat,
and Birtu of Kar-bel-matati, the Arameans all of them
who are by the side of the rivers Tigris,
Euphrates, Surappi, to the midst of the Ukni,
which is by the side of the lower sea I captured,
their warriors I slew, their spoil I carried off.
The Arameans all there were,
to the borders of Assyria I added,
and my Generals prefects over them I made.
Upon the mound of Kamri which the city of Humut they
call
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 67, lines 5 to 15.
IO2 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
a city I built. Kar-assur its name I called.
People the conquests of my hand in the midst I placed.
In Sipar, Nipur, Babili, Barsip, Kute, Kisu, Kilmad,
and Ur, cities unrivalled, valuable sacrifices
and libations to BEL and ZIRAT-BANIT,
NABU and URMITU, NERGAL and LAZ,
the great gods my Lords, I poured out,
and they strengthened my feet
The whole of Kar-dunias to its utmost extent I possess,
and I rule its kingdom.
The Puqudu like corn I swept away,
their fighting men I slew,
their abundant spoil I carried off.
The Puqudu in the cities of Lahiru,
of Idibirina, Hilimmu, and Pillutu,
which border on Elam,
to the boundaries of Assyria I added,
and in the hands of my General
the prefect of Arrapha I placed them.
The Kaldudu all there were I removed,
and in the midst of Assyria I placed them."
65 NABU-U-SAB-SI.
This prince is probably the Nabius of Ptolemy, who
reigned B.C. 733-731. Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria
invaded Babylonia a second time B.C. 731, and defeated and
captured Na.bu-usabsi at Sarrapanu his capital. Nabu-usabsi
was captured and crucified on the wall of his city. One
inscription describing these events is published : "
" Kaldi through its extent in hostility I swept.
NABU-USABSI son of SILANI, his fighting men
on the walls of Sarrapan his city I slew,
and in front of the great gate of his city
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 67, lines 15 to 17.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 103
on a cross I raised him.
I subdued his country,
Sarrapanu to a heap of earth (I reduced)
I captured 5,500 of their people and children.
His spoil, his furniture, his goods, his wife,
his sons, his daughters, and his gods I carried off.
That city and the cities round it I pulled down (destroyed,
in the fire) I burned, and to mounds and heaps I reduced."
Another account is as follows : '
" Bit-Silani, through its extent like a whirlwind
I destroyed. Sarrabanu their great royal city
like a whirlwind I destroyed, and its spoil carried off;
NABU-USABSI their King before the great gate
of his city on a cross I raised.
His spoil, his wife, his sons, his daughters,
his goods, and the treasures of his palace I carried off."
In spite of the statement of Ptolemy's list, it is very
doubtful if this prince ruled at Babylon. It is probable that
the three last monarchs of this epoch, Nabonassar or Nabu-
nazir, Nabius or Nabu-usabsi, and Chinzirus or Kin-ziru, were
Chaldean princes, who kept their independence after Tiglath-
Pileser had conquered Babylonia B.C. 745.
66 KIN-ZIRU, (CHINZIRUS).
* Kinziru, according to the annals of Tiglath-Pileser, was
a Chaldean prince who held out against the Assyrian power
after the death of Nabu-usabsi B.C. 731, and Ptolemy inserts
his name among the Babylonian rulers at this period. The
account of the war between Tiglath-Pileser and Kinziru is
as follows : — s
1 Layanl, Inscriptions, p. 17, lines 8 to 11.
* B.C. 731 to 727. Kinziru or Chinzirus. In the lithographed copy of
the inscription containing this name, there is an error of gab for ziru
which has prevented the earlier recognition of this monarch.
J Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 67, lines 23 to 25.
IO4 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
" KIN-ZIRU son of AMUKKAN,
in Sape his royal city I besieged him,
his numerous fighting men in front of his
great gates I slew, the groves of palm trees
before his wall I cut down, I did not leave one ;
its forests which extended over the country I destroyed,
his enclosures I threw down, and filled up the interiors.
All his cities I pulled down, destroyed,
and burned in the fire. Bit-silani, Bit-amukkani,
and Bit-sahalli through their extent
like a whirlwind I destroyed,
and to mounds and ruins I reduced."
Tiglath-Pileser does not claim to have captured Sape,
although he besieged it, but he took possession of Babylon
and proclaimed himself king of Babylonia, formally annexing
the country to Assyria.
From this time the history of Babylonia is little more
than a description of a series of revolts against the Assyrian
power, each rising being put down, sometimes with great
severity. This state of affairs lasted about a century : when
Nabu-pal-uzur an Assyrian general, sent to quell a revolt in
Chaldea, on the conclusion of that service was made tribu-
tary monarch at Babylon. Nabu-pal-uzur, or Nabopolassar,
some years after he was established at Babylon, having made
preparations for revolt, threw off the Assyrian yoke, and,
with the aid of the Medes, destroyed Nineveh. Babylon,
under Nebuchadnezzar his son, then became mistress of the
world."
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 105
APPENDIX A.
Since the foregoing paper was written, I have thought it
worth while to notice some points which have occurred to
me. In the first place, as to the divisions of Babylonia; I
am now rather of opinion that the district of Akkad, included
the country north of Nipur or Niffer, and the district of
Sumir, the country from Nipur to the Persian Gulf. There
are, however, two other divisions noticed in the Inscriptions,
namely, Kar-duniyas and Kaldu or Chaldea. The position
of Kar-duniyas is quite uncertain, and I do not know if it
was included in either of the before-mentioned divisions.
Kaldu was a region named from being inhabited by the
Chaldees ; it probably had no fixed boundaries, and varied
according to the power of the Chaldean tribes. The strong-
hold of the Chaldeans was on the Persian Gulf.
I here give a translation of an old Babylonian Geogra-
phical List, which was probably inscribed between 2,000 and
i, 600 B.C. In the first column I give, as nearly as I can, the
phonetic values of the names (which are written in Turanian),
in the second column I give the Semitic names of those I can
identify, and in the third the modern names of some, a few
translations and some notes.
It will be observed that, in this list, the first place is given
to the great towns in the south of the country, which were
early the seats of empire; while Babylon, Cutha, Sippara,
Nineveh, and others occur low down in the list, and Borsippa
is not mentioned at all : —
i . . in-di ki
2 Mul-lil ki
3 Ur-lab ki
4 Lab-mah ki
5 Ud-nun ki
6 Ud-lab ki
Nipur
Uru
Larsa
Niffer
Mugheir
Part of Mugheir
Tel Sifr (?)
Senkereh
io6
RECORDS OF THE PAST.
7 Lab ki
8 Ni-si-in ki
9 Zir-lab ki
10 Ki-sur-ra ki
11 .... ki
12 Uhki
13 Ma-gan ki
14 M-luh-ha ki
15 Eri-du ki
1 6 An-du-an ki
17 Mar-ha-si ki
1 8 Ha-mar ki
19 Num ki
20 Gab-gab-ni ki
21 Ni-tuk ki
22 Su-rim (?) ki
23 Su-ti-u-ki
24 In-ku ki
25 Gu-ti-u ki
26 Ha-a ki
27 Ha-a ki
28 Ha-a ki
29 E-ki
30 E-ki
31 E-ki
32 Pa ki
33 Pa ki
34 Pa ki
35 Ud ki
36 Ud ki
37 Ud ki
38 Im ki
39 Im ki
40 Im ki
Uruk
Karrak
Zarilab
Ruhu
Muzur
Kusu
Eridu
Assan
Elamu
Asmun
Guti
Mum
Muru
Muru
Warka
Egypt
Ethiopia
In Elam
Khuzistan
On thePersianGulf
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA.
I07
41 Dur-an ki
Duban (?)
...
42 Dur-an ki
...
43 Dur-an ki
...
...
44 Dur ki
Diru
Duair
45 Dur ki
Dim
...
46 Dur ki
Diru
47 Tu-pur ki
...
...
48 Tig-gab-a ki
Kute
Ibrahim
49 Din-tir ki
Babili
Babylon
So In (?) ki
...
51 Ninu ki
Ninua
Kouyunjik
52 Ki-pal-mas-da ki
...
...
53 Kis ki
Kisu
Hymer
54 Ra-be-qu ki
Rapiqu
...
55 Ne-ri-ib-bu ki
...
56 Ud-kip-nun ki
Sippar
) Abu Hubba (?)
57 Ud-kip-nun-ul-la ki
Old Sippar
) andDeyr(?)
58 Amar-da ki
Marad
59 Te-ni-lu ki
60 Ul-mas ki
Near Sippara (?)
6 1 A-ga-de ki
Akkadu
Near Sippara (?)
62 Hi-za ki
... ...
... ...
63 Ab-nun-na ki
Mullias
64 E-al-de-a ki
...
65 Mas-e-pa-al ki
...
...
66 Mas-e-mi-ta ki
... ...
... ...
67 Mas-e-sar ki
...
68 A-ta-tak ki
... ...
69 Ir sa ki
Alu sa irzitu
Cities of the Earth
70 Ir sa Ka-me ki
Alu sa Sumir
Cities of Sumir
71 Ir sa Ur ki
Alu sa Akkad
Cities of Akkad
72 Ir sa ki-in-gi ki f
Alu sa Sumir and
Cities of Sumir
[Urkit
Akkad
and Akkad
73 Ir sa ki-pal ki
Alu sa napalkutu
Foreign Cities
IO8 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
The Babylonians, like other nations of antiquity, supplied
their own want of knowledge of the early history of their
country by fabulous stories of gods and heroes who were
supposed to have ruled in ancient days.
One of these mythical monarchs was Ninip, who was
supposed to have been son of the deity Bel. Ninip bears the
character of a warrior and hunter ; he is, in fact, a sort of
Hercules or Mars, and various exploits were related con-
cerning him : one tablet,1 speaks of him as follows : —
" The Lord the seed of his father disregarding destroying
the country
the powerful Prince who in his face fear did not carry
NINIP the mighty man who in his image rejoiced
the warrior like a bull destroying his companions
the Lord who to his city returning to his mother was
appointed
the country he rode over seed he begat
violently his name he proclaimed over their kingdom
in the midst of them like a great buffalo his horns he lifted."
APPENDIX B.
Babylonian Contract Tablets. These tablets are very
numerous, there being about 200 specimens in the British
Museum. About 100 belong to the time of the early kings,
and principally to the reigns of Gamil-sin, Sin-idinna, Nur-vul,
Rim-sin, Hammurabi, and Samsu-iluna. They generally exist
in duplicate, one copy being inside the other, and relate
mostly to sales of land ; but some are leases, other sales of
grain, slaves and camels, and a few are loans, wills, and law
cases. The outer and inner copies of these documents some-
times present interesting variations. The following is a
translation of a law case from this collection, concerning two
relatives who quarrelled over some property : —
1 K, 133.
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 109
" ZINI-NANA and IRIBA-SIN a dispute had ;
to settle it a Judge they took,
and to the temple of SAMAS they entered.
In the temple of SAMAS sentence he pronounced ;
' The slave LUSSAMAR-SAMAS and the
female slave LISLIMA to be the property of IRIBA-SIN ;
the slave IPSINAN and the female slave ILAMANNA-LAMAZI
to be the property of ZINI-NANA.'
A statute in the temple of SAMAS
and the temple of SIN they proclaimed :
' Brother to brother should be loving,
brother from brother should not turn,
should not quarrel, over the whole a brother to a brother
should be generous, the whole he should not have.
By the names of (&) UR, (g.) SAMAS, (g.) MARUDUK,
(g.) SARKIMUNA and HAMMURABI the King they swore,
witness DAVKINA-SEME son of APIYATU,
witness ABIL-SIN son of URMANSE,
witness SIN-ESSES the Priest,
witness IBUS-HEA the Dugab, witness SAMAS-MUBANIT
Priest of (g.) GULA, witness NABI-SIN son of IDIN-SIN,
witness SIN-UZILI son of ZINI-NANA,
witness INU-SIN son of SIN-SEME,
witness SIN-GIMLAANNI the ... of the Judges.
Tablet the witnesses impressed in the
month Addaru in the year when HAMMURABI the King
(g.) ANU, (g.) ANUNIT and (g.) NANA adorned.' "
The outer tablet has the following variant for the first
part of this text : —
" ZINI-NANA and IRIBA-SIN a dispute had ;
to settle it a Judge they took.
The Judge to the temple of SAMAS drove them,
and in the temple of SAMAS the Judge
judgment gave to them, and sentence pronounced,
110 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
their possessions he appointed :
* The slave LUSSAMAR-SAMAS,' " etc.
This double document is written in Semitic Babylonian,
like the tablet of Hammurabi at Paris, but most of the other
tablets in the collection are written in Turanian, although
occasionally one copy will give a Semitic equivalent for the
corresponding Turanian word in the other.
Ill
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
TRANSLATED BY
REV. J. M. RO DWELL, M.A.
RECTOR OP S. BTHELBURGA.
"DABYLONIAN Inscriptions are by no means so
replete with interest as the Assyrian. The latter
embrace the various expeditions in which the Assy-
rian monarchs were engaged, and bring us into
contact with the names and locality of rivers, cities
and mountain-ranges, with cotemporary princes in
Judaea and elsewhere, and abound in details as to
domestic habits, civil usages, and the implements and
modes of warfare. But the Babylonian Inscriptions
refer mainly to the construction of temples, palaces,
and other public buildings, and at the same time
present especial difficulties in their numerous archi-
tectural terms which it is often impossible to
translate with any certainty. They are however
interesting as records of the piety, and religious
feelings of the sovereigns of Babylon, and as afford-
ing numerous topographical notices of that famous
city ; while the boastful language of the Inscription
will often remind the reader of Nebuchadnezzar's
words in Dan. iv. 30 : " Is not this great Babylon, that
I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the
might of my power, and for the honour of my
majesty?" Compare column vii. line 32.
The reign of Nebuchadnezzar extended from B.C.
604 to 561. In B.C. 598 he laid siege to Jerusalem
112 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
(2 Kings xxiv.) and made Jehoiachin prisoner, and
in 588 again captured the city, and carried Zedekiah,
who had rebelled against him, captive to Babylon
(2 Kings xxv.). Josephus gives an account of his
expeditions against Tyre and Egypt which are also
mentioned with many details in Ezek. xxvii.-xxix.
The name Nebuchadnezzar, or more accurately
Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. xxi. 2, 7, etc.) is derived from
the Jewish Scriptures. But in the Inscriptions it
reads Nebo-kudurri-ussur, i.e., may Nebo protect tJie
crown ; a name analogous to that of his father
Nebo(Nabu)-habal-ussur, (Nebo protect the son) and
to that of Belshazzar, i.e., Bel protect the prince.
The phonetic writing of Nebuchadnezzar is An-pa-
sa-du-sis, each of which syllables has been identified
through the syllabaries. The word kndurri is pro-
bably the "ip3 of Esther vi. 8, and the KiSapis of the
Greeks. The Inscription of which a translation
follows, was found at Babylon by Sir Harford Jones
Bridges, and now forms part of the India-House
Collection. It is engraved on a short column of
black basalt, and is divided into ten columns,
containing 619 lines.
It may be worth while to remark that in the name
given to the prophet Daniel, Belteshazzar, i.e., Balat-
su-ussur, preserve thou his life, and in Abednego
(servant of Nebo), we have two of the component
parts of the name of Nebuchadnezzar himself.
"3
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
COLUMN I.
1 NEBUCHADNEZZAR
2 King of Babylon,
3 glorious Prince,
4 worshipper of MARDUK,
5 adorer of the lofty one,
6 glorifier of NABU,
7 the exalted, the possessor of intelligence,
8 who the processions of their divinities
9 hath increased ;
10 a worshipper of their Lordships,
1 1 firm, not to be destroyed ;
1 2 who for the embellishment
13 of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida1
14 appointed days hath set apart, and
15 the shrines of Babylon
1 6 and of Borsippa
1 7 hath steadily increased ;
18 exalted Chief, Lord of peace,
19 embellisher of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida,
20 the valiant son
21 of NABOPO'LASSAR
22 King of Babylon am I.
23 When he, the Lord god my maker made me,
24 the god MERODACH, he deposited
25 my germ in my mother's (womb) :
26 then being conceived
1 Two of the principal temples of Babylon. The former occurs below.
Col. ii. 40, where it is followed by the epithet, " Temple of his power." Dr.
Oppert always renders it " la Pyramide et la Tour."
VOL. V. 9
114 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
27 I was made.
28 Under the inspection of ASSUR my judge
29 the processions of the god I enlarged,
30 (namely) of MERODACH great Lord, the god my maker.
31 His skilful works
32 highly have I glorified ;
33 and of NEBO his eldest son
34 exalter of My Royalty
35 the processions (in honour of)1 his exalted deity
36 I firmly established.
37 With all my heart firmly
38 (in) worship of their deities I uprose
39 in reverence for NEBO their Lord.
40 Whereas MERODACH, great Lord,
41 the head of My ancient Royalty,
42 hath empowered me over multitudes of men,
43 and (whereas) NEBO bestower of thrones in heaven
and earth,
44 for the sustentation of men,
45 a sceptre of righteousness
46 hath caused my hand to hold ;
47 now I, that sacred way
48 for the resting-place of their divinities,
49 for a memorial of all their names,
50 as a worshipper of NEBO, YAV and ISTAR,
51 for MERODACH my Lord I strengthened.
52 Its threshhold I firmly laid, and
53 my devotion of heart he accepted, and
54 him did I proclaim
55 Lord of all beings, and'
1 Literally, the goings. Compare Psalm Ixviii. 24. "They have seen thy
goings, O God," i.e., processions.
* Of this line Mr. Norris (Diet., p. 166) states "that he cannot suggest
any rendering."
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 115
56 as Prince of the lofty house, and
57 thou, (O NEBUCHADNEZZAR) hast proclaimed the
name of him
58 who has been beneficent unto thee.
59 His name, (O god,) thou wilt preserve,
60 the path of righteousness thou hast prescribed to him.
6 1 I, a Prince, and thy worshipper
62 am the work of thy hand ;
63 thou hast created me, and '
64 the empire over multitudes of men
65 thou hast assigned me,
66 according to thy favour, O Lord,
67 which thou hast accorded
68 to them all.'
69 May thy lofty Lordship be exalted !
70 in the worship of thy divinity
7 1 may it subsist ! in my heart
72 may it continue, and my life which to thee is devoted
(Continued on Column II.)
1 It seems as if the hand were addressed.
1 I.e., in making me their ruler.
II 6 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
COLUMN II.
1 mayest thou bless !
2 He, the Chief, the honourable,
3 the Prince of the gods, the great MERODACH,
4 my gracious Lord, heard
5 and received my prayer ;
6 he favoured it, and by his exalted power,
7 reverence for his deity
8 placed he in my heart :
9 to bear his tabernacle
10 he hath made my heart firm,
1 1 with reverence for thy power,
12 for exalted service,
13 greatly and eternally.
14 The foundation of his temple it was
1 5 which from the upper waters
1 6 to the lower waters
17 in a remote way,
1 8 in a spot exposed to winds,
19 a place whose pavements had been broken,
20 low, dried up,
21 a rugged way,
22 a difficult path,
23 I extended.
24 The disobedient I stirred up,
25 and I collected the poor and
26 gave full directions (for the work) and
27 in numbers I supported them.
28 Wares and ornaments
29 for the women I brought forth,
30 silver, molten gold, precious stones,
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 117
3 1 metal, umritgana and cedar woods,
32 (however their names be written)
33 a splendid abundance,
34 the produce of mountains,
35 sea clay,1
36 beautiful things in abundance,
37 riches and sources of joy,
38 for my city Babylon,
39 into his presence have I brought
40 for Bit-Saggatu
41 the temple of his power,
42 . ornaments for DAKAN '
43 Bit-Kua, the shrine
44 of MERODACH, Lord of the house of the gods,
45 I have made conspicuous with fine linen J
46 and its seats
47 with splendid gold,
48 as for royalty and deity,
49 with lapis lazuli and alabaster blocks *
50 I carefully covered them over ;
51 a gate of passage, the gate Beautiful,*
52 and the gate of Bit-Zida and Bit-Saggatu
53 I caused to be made brilliant as the sun.
54 A fulness of the treasures of countries I accumulated ;6
55 around the city it was placed as an ornament,
1 Mr. Morris conjectures "amber." ' Dagon.
9 Sassanis. The root is probably identical with the Hebrew shesh fine
linen thus in Ex. xxvi. i. "Thou shall make the tabernacle with ten
curtains of fine twined linen."
4 These are found still in the ruins of Babylon.
5 Compare the Beautiful Gate of the Jewish temple.
6 Mr. Norris in his Dictionary professes his inability to master the first
words of this line, p. 580. The same remark applies to line 58. The
above rendering is suggested to me by Mr. G. Smith.
Il8 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
56 when at the festival of Lilmuku at the beginning of the
year,
57 on the eighth day (and) eleventh day,
58 the divine Prince, Deity of heaven and earth, the Lord
god,
59 they raised within it.
60 (The statue) of the god EL, the beauty of the sphere,
6 1 reverently they bring ;
62 treasure have they displayed before it,
63 a monument to lasting days,
64 a monument of my life.
65 They also placed within it
(Continued on Column III.)
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 119
COLUMN III.
1 his altar, an altar of Royalty ;
2 an altar of Lordship,
3 (for) the Chief of the gods, the Prince MERODACH,
4 whose fashion the former Prince
5 had fashioned in silver,
6 with bright gold accurately weighed out
7 I overlaid.
8 Beautiful things for the temple Bit-Saggatu
9 seen at its very summit,
10 the shrine of MERODACH, with statues and marbles
11 I embellished
12 as the stars of heaven.
1 3 The fanes of Babylon
14 I built, I adorned.
15 Of the house, the foundation of the heaven and earth,
1 6 I reared the summit
1 7 with blocks of noble lapis lazuli :
1 8 to the construction of Bit-Saggatu
19 my heart uplifted me ;
20 in abundance I wrought
2 1 the best of my pine trees
22 which from Lebanon
23 together with tall £aln7-\vood I brought,
24 for the portico of the temple of MERODACH :
25 the shrine of his Lordship
26 I made good, and interior walls
27 with pine and tall cedar woods :
28 the portico of the temple of MERODACH,
29 with brilliant gold I caused to cover,
30 the lower threshholds, the cedar awnings,
120 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
31 with gold and precious stones
32 I embellished :
33 in the erection of Bit-Saggatu
34 I proceeded : I supplicated
35 the King of gods, the Lord of Lords :
36 in Borsippa, the city of his loftiness,
37, 38 I raised Bit-Zida : a durable house
39 in the midst thereof I caused to be made.
40 With silver, gold, precious stones,
41 bronze, ummakana and pine woods,
42 those threshholds I completed :
43 the pine wood portico
44 of the shrine of NEBO
45 with gold I caused to cover,
46 the pine wood portico of the gate of the temple of
MERODACH
47 I caused to overlay with bright silver.
48 The bulls and columns of the gate of the shrine
49 the threshholds, the sigari of n'-wood, conduits
50 of Babnaku wood and their statues
5 1 with cedar wood awnings
52 of lofty building,
53 and silver, I adorned.
54 The avenues of the shrine
55 and the approach to the house,
56 of conspicuous brick
57 sanctuaries in its midst
58 with perforated silver work,
59 Bulls, columns, doorways,
60, 6 1 in marble beautifully I built ;
62, 63 I erected a shrine and with rows
64 of wreathed work I filled it :
65 the fanes of Borsippa
66 I made and embellished :
1
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 121
67 the temple of the seven spheres
68 '
69 with bricks of noble lapis-lazuli
70 I reared its summit :
7 1 the tabernacle of NAHR-KANUL
72 the chariot of his greatness
(Continued on Column IV.)
1 Lacuna.
122 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
COLUMN IV.
1 the tabernacle, the shrine Lilmuku,
2 the festival of Babylon,
3, 4 his pageant of dignity
5 within it, I caused to decorate
6 with beryls and stones.
7 A temple for sacrifices, the lofty citadel
8 of BEL and MERODACH, god of gods,
9 a threshhold of joy and supremacy
10 among angels and spirits,
1 1 with the stores of Babylon,
1 2 with cement and brick,
13 like a mountain I erected.
14 A great temple of NINHARISSI '
15 in the centre of Babylon
1 6 to the great goddess the mother who created me,
17 in Babylon I made.
1 8 To NEBO of lofty intelligence
19 who hath bestowed (on me) the sceptre of justice,
20 to preside over all peoples,
21 a temple of rule over men, and a site for this his temple
22, 23 in Babylon, of cement and brick
24 the fashion I fashioned.
25, 26 To the Moon-god, the strengthener of my hands
27 a large house of alabaster as his temple
28 in Babylon I made.
29 To the sun, the judge supreme
30 who perfects good in my body,
31 a house for that guide of men, even his house,
1 Wife of the sun.
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 123
32, 33 in Babylon, of cement and brick,
34 skilfully did I make.
35 To the god YAV, establisher of fertility
36 in my land, Bit-Numkan as his temple
37 in Babylon I built.
38 To the goddess GULA, the regulator
39 and benefactress of my life,
40 Bit-Samit, and Bit-haris the lofty,
41, 42 as fanes in Babylon, in cement and brick
43 strongly did I build.
44 To the divine Lady of Bit Anna,
45 my gracious mistress,
46 Bit-Kiku in front of her house
47 so as to strengthen the wall of Babylon
48 I skilfully constructed.
49, 50 To NINIP the breaker of the sword of my foes
51 a temple in Borsippa I made ;
52 and to the Lady GULA'
53 the beautifier of my person '
54 Bit-Gula, Bit-Tila, Bit-Ziba-Tila,
55 her three temples
56 in Borsippa I erected :
57 to the god YAV who confers
58 the fertilizing rain upon my land,
59, 60 his house (also) in Borsippa I strongly built :
6 1 to the Moon-god who upholds
62 the fulness of my prosperity
63 Bit-ti-Anna 3 as his temple,
1 In i Mich. iv. 5. Gula is said to be the wife of the southern sun.
8 Or, The favourer of my praises.
3 The goddess Anna is identical with the Nana whose image was by her
own command restored by Assurbanipal to the temple of Bit-Anna after
an absence in Elam of 1635 years. See Smith's Assurb. pp. 234-5.
124 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
64 on the mound near Bit-Ziba
65 I beautifully constructed :
66, 67 Imgur-Bel and Nimetti-Belkit
68 the great walls of Babylon,
69 ' I built,
70 which NABOPOLASSAR
7 1 King, King of Babylon, the father who begat me,
72 had commenced but not completed their beauty.
(Continued on Column V.)
1 Lacuna.
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 125
COLUMN V.
1 Its fosse he dug
2 and of two high embankments
3 -in cement and brick
4 he finished the mass :
5, 6 an embankment for pathways he made,
7, 8 Buttresses of brick beyond the Euphrates
9, 10 he constructed, but did not complete :
n, 12 the rest from '
13 the best of their lands I accumulated :
14 a place for sacrifice, as ornament,
15, 1 6 as far as Aibur-sabu' near Babylon
17 opposite the principal gate
1 8 with brick and durmina-turda stone
19 as a shrine of the great Lord, the god MERODACH
20 I built as a house for processions.
21, 22 I his eldest son, the chosen of his heart,
23, 24 Imgur-Bel and Nimetti-Bel
25, 26 the great walls of Babylon, completed :
27 buttresses for the embankment of its fosse,
28 and two long embankments
29 with cement and brick I built, and
30 with the embankment my father had made
31, 32 I joined them ; and to the city for protection
33, 34 I brought near an embankment of enclosure
35 beyond the river, westward.
36 The wall of Babylon
37, 38 I carried round Aibur-sabu
39 in the vicinity of Babylon :
40 for a shrine of the great Lord MERODACH
1 Lacuna. * An ornamental piece of water near Babylon.
126 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
41, 42 the whole enclosure I filled (with buildings)
43 with brick made of kamina-turda stone
44 and brick of stone cut out of mountains.
45, 46 Aibur-sabu from the High gate,
47, 48 as far as Istar-Sakipat I made,
49, 50 for a shrine for his divinity I made good,
5 1 and with what my father had made
52, 53 I joined, and built it;
54, 55, 56 and the access to Istar-Sakipat I made,
57, 58 which is Imgur-Bel and Nimetti-Bel,
59 the great gates, the whole temple of the gods,
60, 6 1 in completeness near to Babylon
62 I brought down ;
63, 64 the materials of those great gates
65 I put together and
(Continued on Column VI.)
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 127
COLUMN VI.
i their foundations opposite to the waters
2, 3 in cement and brick I founded,
4 and of strong stones of zamat-hati,
5 bulls and images,
6 the building of its interior
7 skilfully I constructed :
8, 9, 10 tall cedars for their porticoes I arranged,
1 1 ikki wood, cedar wood,
1 2 with coverings of copper,
13 on domes and arches :
14, 15 work in bronze I overlaid substantially on its gates,
1 6, 17 bulls of strong bronze and molten images
1 8 for their threshholds, strongly.
19 Those large gates
20 for the admiration of multitudes of men
21 with wreathed work I filled :
22 the abode of IMZU-BEL
23 the invincible castle of Babylon,
24 which no previous King had effected,
25 4000 cubits complete,
26 the walls of Babylon
27 whose banner is invincible,
28 as a high fortress by the ford of the rising sun,
29 I carried round Babylon.
30 Its fosse I dug and its mass
31 with cement and brick
32, 33 I reared up and a tall tower at its side
34 like a mountain I built.
35, 36 The great gates whose walls I constructed
37 with ikki and pine woods and coverings of copper
38 I overlaid them,
128 . RECORDS OF THE PAST.
39 to keep off enemies from the front
40 of the wall of unconquered Babylon.
41, 42 Great waters like the might of the sea
43 I brought near in abundance
44 and their passing by
45 was like the passing by of the great billows
46 of the Western ocean :
47, 48 passages through them were none,
49, 50 but heaps of earth I heaped up,
51 and embankments of brickwork
52 I caused to be constructed.
53, 54 The fortresses I skilfully strengthened
55 and the city of Babylon
56 I fitted to be a treasure-city.
57 The handsome pile
58, 59 the fort of Borsippa I made anew :
60, 6 1 its fosse I dug out and in cement and brick
62 I reared up its mass.
63 NEBUCHADNEZZAR
(Continued on Co/umnVIl.)
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 129
COLUMN VII.
1 King of Babylon
2 whom MERODACH, the Sun, the great Lord,
3 for the holy places of his city
4 Babylon hath called, am I :
5 and Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida
6 like the radiance of the Sun I restored :
7 the fanes of the great gods
8 I completely brightened.
9 At former dates from the days of old
10 to the days '
11 of NABOPOLASSAR King of Babylon
1 2 the exalted father who begat me,
13 many a Prince who preceded me
14, 15 whose names EL had proclaimed for royalty
1 6 for the city, my city, the festivals of these gods
17 in the perfected places
1 8 a princely temple, a large temple did they make
19 and erected it as their dwelling places.
20, 2 1 Their spoils in the midst they accumulated,
22. they heaped up, and their treasures
23 for the festival Lilmuku
24 of the good Lord, MERODACH god of gods
25 they transferred into the midst of Babylon ;
26, 27 when at length MERODACH who made me for royalty
28 and the god NEBO his mighty son,
29 committed his people to me
30 as precious lives.
3 1 Highly have I exalted their cities ;
32 (but) above Babylon and Borsippa
33 I have not added a city
1 Lacuna.
VOL. V. 10
130 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
34 in the realm of Babylonia
35 as a city of my lofty foundation.
36 A great temple, a house of admiration for men,
37, 38 a vast construction, a lofty pile,
39, 40 a palace of My Royalty for the land of Babylon,
41 in. the midst of the city of Babylon
42, 43 from Imgur Bel to Libit-higal
44 the ford of the Sun-rise,
45 from the bank of the Euphrates
46 as far as Aibur-sabu
47 which NABOPOLASSAR
48 King of Babylon the father who begat me
49, 50 made in brick and raised up in its midst,
5 1 but whose foundation was damaged
52 by waters and floods
53, 54 at Bit-Imli near Babylon,
55, 56 and the gates of that palace were thrown down,
57, 58 of this the structure with brickwork I repaired
59 with its foundation and boundary wall,
60 and a depth of waters I collected :
6 1, 62 then opposite the waters I laid its foundation
63 and with cement and brick
(Continued on Column VIII.)
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 131
COLUMN VIII.
1,2 I skilfully surrounded it ;
3, 4 tall cedars for its porticoes I fitted ;
5, 6 ikki and cedar woods with layers of copper,
7 on domes and arches
8, 9 and with bronze work, I strongly overlaid its gates
10 with silver, gold, precious stones,
ii, 12 whatsoever they call them, in heaps ;
13 I valiantly collected spoils ;
14 as an adornment of the house were they arranged,
1 5 and were collected within it ;
1 6, 17 trophies, abundance, royal treasures,
1 8 I accumulated and gathered together.
19 As to the moving of My Royalty
20 to any other city,
21 there has not arisen a desire :
22 among any other people
23 no royal palace have I built :
24 the merchandize and treasures of my kingdom
25, 26, 27 I did not deposit within the provinces of Babylon :
28 a pile for my residence
29, 30 to grace My Royalty was not found :
31 Therefore with reverence for MERODACH my Lord,
32, 33 the exterior and interior in Babylon
34 as his treasure city
35, 36 and for the elevation of the abode of My Royalty
37 his shrine I neglected not :
38 its weak parts which were not completed,
39 its compartments that were not remembered,
40 as a securely compacted edifice
41, 42 I dedicated and set up as a preparation for war
43, 44 by Imgur Bel, the fortress of invincible Babylon,
132 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
45 400 cubits in its completeness,
46 a wall of Nimitti-Bel
47 an outwork of Babylon
48, 49 for defence. Two lofty embankments,
50 in cement and brick,
51 a fortress like a mountain I made,
52 and in their sub-structure
53 I built a brickwork ;
54 then on its summit a large edifice
55 for the residence of My Royalty
56, 57 with cement and brick I skilfully built
58 and brought it down by the side of the temple :
59 and in the exact middle, on the second day
60 its foundation in a solid depth
6 1, 62 I made good and its summit I carried round ;
63 and on the isth day its beauty
(Continued on Column IX.)
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 133
COLUMN IX.
1 I skilfully completed
2 and exalted as an abode of Royalty.
3, 4 Tall pines, the produce of lofty mountains,
5 thick asuhu wood
6, 7 and surman wood in choice pillars
8 for its covered porticoes I arranged.
9 ikki and musritkanna woods
10 cedar and surman woods
11 I brought forth, and in heaps,
1 2 with a surface of silver and gold
13 and with coverings of copper,
14, 15 on domes and arches, and with works of metal
1 6 its gates I strongly overlaid
1 7 and completely with zamat-stone
1 8 I finished off its top.
19, 20 A strong wall in cement and brick
21 like a mountain I carried round
22, 23 a wall, a brick fortress, a great fortress
24 with long blocks of stone
25, 26 gatherings from great lands I made
27, 28 and like hills I upraised its head.
29, 30 That house for admiration I caused to build
3 1 and for a banner to hosts of men :
32 with carved work I fitted it ;
33 the strong power of reverence for
34 the presence of Royalty
35 environs its walls ;
36, 37 the least thing not upright enters it not,
38 that evil may not make head.
39 The walls of the fortress of Babylon
40, 41 its defence in war I raised
134 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
42 and the circuit of the city of Babylon.
43, 44 I have strengthened skilfully.
45 To MERODACH my Lord
46 my hand I lifted :
47 O MERODACH the Lord, Chief of the gods,
48, 49 a surpassing Prince thou hast made me,
50 and empire over multitudes of men,
51, 52 hast entrusted to me as precious lives;
53 thy power have I extended on high,
54, 55 over Babylon thy city, before all mankind.
56 No city of the land have I edited
57, 58 as was exalted the reverence of thy deity :
59 I caused it to rest : and may thy power
60, 6 1 bring its treasures abundantly to my land.
62 I, whether as King and embellisher,
63 am the rejoicer of thy heart
64 or whether as High Priest appointed,
65 embellishing all thy fortresses,
(Continued on Column X.)
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 135
COLUMN X.
i, 2 For thy glory, O exalted MERODACH
3 a house have I made.
4 May its greatness advance !
5 May its fulness increase !
6, 7 in its midst abundance may it acquire !
8 May its memorials be augmented !
9 May it receive within itself
10 the abundant tribute
n, 12 of the Kings of nations and of all peoples !'
13, 14 From the West to the East by the rising sun
15 may I have no foemen !
1 6 May they not be multiplied
1 7, 1 8 within, in the midst thereof, for ever,
19 Over the dark races may he rule !
1 Comp. Dan. i. 2, " He brought the vessels into the treasure house of
his god."
137
INSCRIPTION OF NERIGLISSAR.
BY THE
REV. J. M. RO DWELL, M.A.
RECTOR OF ST. ETHELBURGA, BISHOPSGATE.
JSJERIGLISSAR, or Nergal-sar-uzur (i.e., "Nergal
protects the King ") was the son of Bcl-sum-iskun and
succeeded Evil-Merodach on the throne of Babylon,
where he reigned from B.C. 559 to B.C. 550. In the
Canon of Ptolemy the name occurs as Nerigasola-
saros, and it is also found in the prophet Jeremiah1
among the names of other Babylonian officers of
high rank.
Nergal, according to Dr. Oppert, Exp. Mes. ii., 324,
is the planet Mars, called Nerig by the Sabasans. In
2 Kings xvii. 30 we read that the Cuthneans wor-
shipped this Nergal. Now as the Cuneiform inscrip-
. ' Jer. xxxix. 3, 13.
138 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
tions show that the Lion god, under the name of
Nergal, was worshipped at Tiggabba, a name which
interchanges with Kuti, = Cutha, we have before
us, in this fact, a remarkable confirmation of the
accuracy of the writer of the Book of Kings. The
passages are quoted by Mr. Norris, Assyr. Diet.
Vol. I, p. 46.
The terra cotta Cylinder of which a translation is
here given is preserved in the Library of Trinity Col-
lege, Cambridge, and was brought from the Ruins
of Babylon by Mr. Layard. The Cuneiform text is
printed in Vol. I., p. 67 of the British Museum
Series of Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia,
139
INSCRIPTION OF NERIGLISSAR.
COLUMN I.
1 NERIGLISSAR King of Babylon,
2 restorer of Bit-Saggatu and Bit Zida,1
3 builder of holy places,
4 whom, in order to make his kingdom durable
5 the great gods have stablished in power :
6 MERODACH, powerful among the gods, determiner of
destinies,
7 for supremacy over many lands hath created him,
8 (and) hath determined his destiny
9 for help (and) progress in abundance hath he made
him :
10 NEBO, mighty son, a sceptre of righteousness*
1 1 hath caused his hand to hold
1 2 for the regulation of men, the benefit of lands :
13 The god ABN-RA, mighty among the gods3 hath fur-
nished him his shield 4
14 son of BEL-SUM-ISKUN, King of Babylon am I :
15 while MERODACH, great Lord, my ancient ruler,
1 6 land and people to a master hath given :
17 I, to MERODACH my Lord, stedfast, unfailing,
1 8 the temple of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida to restore
The kings of Babylon constantly style themselves, defenders or
restorers of these two temples, which probably were used as observatories
as well as places of worship. Dr. Hincks (Polyphony p. 21) gives reason
for supposing that the Babylonian kings meant to imply by these titles
that they were defenders of the civil and military " institutions of the
country."
' Compare Psalm xlv. 7.
5 Compare the expression "clgibbor" in Isaiah ix. 6.
4 Compare Psalm xxxv. i, 2
140 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
19 directed my course,
20 a principal Governor for secure repose ;
21 an image of bronze in the niches of the gates of
Bit-Saggatu
22 (and) ornaments in silver as pediments were firmly
raised,
23 for the gate of the Sun-rise, the gate of the mighty god
of the West, the water gate and the King's gate,
24 which no previous King had strengthened,
25 now (as) a place for sacrifice, for the worship of the
gods, skilfully
26 I fashioned, and eight images of strong bronze
27 which on wicked men and foes rain down the fear of
death,
28 with rows of pure silver I caused to overlay ; and
29 for the gate of the Sunrise, the gate of the mighty god
of the West, the water gate and King's gate
30 in the niches of those gates as of yore,
31 silver ornaments as pediments
32 as its chief embellishment I erected on its foundation
33 ornaments of the interior of Bit-Zida
34 .... in a circle on that summit
35 ground, I placed the great temple of MERO-
DACH, god of gods :
36 in its midst I
37 and solid, of its gates with
38 in a circle over against it
39 its doors
[Lines 40 — 42 are entirely obliterated.]
INSCRIPTION OF NERIGLISSAR. 141
COLUMN II.
1 in the days of the former king. An abode for my
Royalty
2 I reared of Sauiri wood all around.
3 As for me, I restored its ancient site and
4 the course of its waters as of old
5 to the wall of Bit-Saggatu I directed,
6 at the side of the Sun-rise, which the former king had
planned, but
7 had not built : its arcades
8 close by I planned, and with cement and brick
9 its arcades I built.
10 Waters of fertility not intermitting,
11 I secured for the land.
12 To Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida I am unfailing to raise a
place
13 an entire strong-hold of the gods for embellishment
14 (and) for a steadfast resting place.
1 5 When as the palace the abode of my Royalty
1 6 in the land of Babylon in the midst of Babylon,
17 from Aibur-sabu near Babylon
1 8 as far as the neighbourhood of the Euphrates,
19 whose foundation a former king had made and
arranged
20 in the interior for the protection of the temple
21 above the bank of the river Euphrates,
22 was damaged, and its mass was loosened, —
23 its prostrated fragments I put together and
24 a depth of water I secured :
25 opposite those waters with cement and brick
26 its foundation I laid down, and
27 I made, I completed (it) and
28 reared aloft its summit :
142 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
29 tall cedars ' for its roof,
30 wood for its galleries and awnings I arranged.
31 O god MERODACH, Great Lord, Lord of the house of
the gods is his name,
32 light of the gods, father, even
33 for thy high honour which changeth not
34 a house have I built.3 May its fulness increase !
35 may it acquire treasures in its midst !
36 may its tributes augment
37 from West to East by the rising sun
38 from the Kings of the nations of all men !
39 their many tributes
40 may it receive within (its walls) !
41 may they come within it for ever !
42 may their approach copiously prevail !
Compare the material furnished for the erection of Solomon's temple.
Compare i Chron. vi. 33.
INSCRIPTION OF NABONIDUS,
KING OF BABYLON.
TRANSLATED BY
H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
T7ROM the terra cotta cylinders, four in number,
found at the corners of the temple of the Moon
at Mugheir,' and now in the British Museum. Pub-
lished in Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia,
Vol. L, plate 68.
This translation was first published in 1861, in the
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIX., p. 195.
Several writers have maintained that the Prince
Bel-sar-ussur, who is named in this inscription as
being the eldest son of Nabonidus, is identical with
the Biblical Belshazzar. As I am however of a very
different opinion I will state some of my reasons for
doubting it. I willingly admit that Belshazzar is the
same name as Bel-sar-ussur ; but this proves nothing,
because Bel-sar-ussur, meaning, Bel protect the King,
is not an unfrequent name in the Cuneiform in-
scriptions. Nergal-sar-ussur, usually shortened into
Neriglissar, is another name of the same kind, and
probably there were many other names, borne by
different individuals, in which the principal gods of
Babylonia were invoked " to protect the King."
Nothing therefore can be inferred from the mere
name of Bel-sar-ussur.
Again, the book of Daniel presents to us Bel-
shazzar as a reigning king, and gives not the least
hint of his having a father still alive and on the throne.
Yet this is maintained by some writers who say that
Bel-sar-ussur was co-regent with Nabonidus his father.'
1 The Ur of the Chaldees.
1 "Admitted by his father to a share in the government." Smith's
Dictionary of the Biile. " Joifct king with his father." ll-id.
144 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
But of this there is not the slightest evidence in the
inscription or elsewhere. He may have been a mere
child when it was written. His father merely asks the
gods to bless him.
Again, Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzar,
and not the son of Nabonidus. Dan. v. 2.
This has been explained away by saying that
" father " in Hebrew may mean " grandfather," or
even a more remote ancestor. But consider the
words employed in this passage, which seem ex-
pressly designed to avoid all ambiguity : chap. v. 1 1 :
" There is a man in thy kingdom, viz., Daniel, in
whom is the spirit of the holy gods .... whom the
king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy
father, made master of the magicians, astrologers,
Chaldeans, and soothsayers." And, chap. v. 13 : "Then
was Daniel brought in before the king. And the
king said : Art thou that Daniel, whom tJie king my
father brought out of Jewry ? "
Daniel in reply said to the king, chap. v. 18 : "The
most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy fatJter a
kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour ....
But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind
hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly
throne, and they took his glory from him And
tJiou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine
heart, though thou knewest all this."
Now, how do these passages suit the person of
Bel-sar-ussur the son of Nabonidus, who was merely
a Babylonian nobleman, and not in any way related,
as far as we know, to the family of Nebuchadnezzar ?
There are so many great and undoubted coincidences
between the cuneiform inscriptions and the Scriptures,
that it was not worth while to bring forward so un-
substantial a conjecture as the one which I have been
here examining.
'45
THE INSCRIPTION OF NABONIDUS.
COLUMN I.
1 NABO-IMDUK' King of Babylon
2 restorer of Bit-Saggathu
3 and Bit-Zida,"
4 worshipper of the great gods, I am he.
5 The building of King RAM-SIDI
6 called the Tower of the temple of " the great tree "
7 which is in the city of Ur,
8 which URUKH, a King who lived long ago,
9 had begun, but had not completed,
10 but ILGI his son
1 1 had completed the superstructure :
12 in the inscriptions of URUKH
13 and ILGI his son I read
14 that this tower
15 URUKH had begun to build
1 6 but had not completed it
17 and ILGI its superstructure
1 8 completed.
19 In my days that tower
20 had disappeared entirely.
21 Upon the old timin*
22 which URUKH and ILGI
1 The king has two names in this inscription. His subjects who spoke
the Accadian language called him Nabo-imduk, which probably meant
" Nabo the glorious."
* Two magnificent temples very frequently mentioned in the inscriptions.
1 Or platform.
VOL. V. 11
146 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
23 his son had made,
24 of that tower
25 like unto the ancient one
26 in bitumen and brick
27 a restoration I made.
28 Unto the MOON, Chief ot the gods of heaven and
earth
29 King of the stars upon stars1
30 which dwell in heaven great, Lord of that temple of
" the great tree "
31 in the city of UR, my Lord,
(Continued on Column II.)
1 "Stars:" in the original "gods :" but the stars were in those ancient
times accounted divinities and the same symbol (a six-rayed star) denoted
" a star " and " a god."
INSCRIPTION OF NABONIDUS. 147
COLUMN II.
1 From its foundation
2 I raised it anew.
3 O MOON ! Chief of the gods
4 King of the gods of heaven and earth,
5 and of the stars upon stars
6 which dwell in heaven great :
7 into this temple
8 when joyfully thou dost enter '
9 the holy buildings of Bit-Saggathu
10 and Bit-Zida, and the temple of " the great tree "
1 1 which are the dwellings of thy great divinity,
1 2 may thy lips proclaim their stability !
13 The fear of thy great divinity
14 in the hearts of their inhabitants
15 fix thou firmly ! that they may not transgress
1 6 against thy great divinity !
1 7 Like heaven may their foundations
1 8 stand fast !
19 Myself NABO-NID King of Babylon
20 in the fear of thy great divinity
21 preserve me !
22 My life unto distant days
23 abundantly prolong !
24 and of BEL-SAR-USSUR
25 my eldest son
26 the offspring of my body,
1 When the image of a god was brought into his newly built temple
great rejoicings always took place.
148 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
2 7 the awe of thy great divinity
28 fix thou firmly in his heart
29 that he may never fall
30 into sin
31 and that his glory may endure !
149
THE INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS,
AT NAKSHI RUSTAM.
TRANSLATED BY
H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
'T'HIS important inscription was published by
Westergaard in the Mtmoires de la Soctitf Royale des
Antiquaires du Nord, Copenhagen 1844, where it is
given in Plate xviii.
Since that time a more perfect copy has been
obtained by Tasker, and from these materials Sir
H. Rawlinson many years ago gave a restoration
of a great part of the inscription, accompanied by a
150 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Latin version. I have carefully revised my former
translation of 1862 in the Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, and I hope the remaining errors are
but few.
'5'
THE INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS.
1 Chief of the gods, is OROMASDES, who created heaven
and earth,
2 and created mankind : who gave to men their various
fortunes :
3 who created DARIUS, the King of many Kings.
4 I am DARIUS the great King, the King of Kings, the
King of the nations
5 of every different tongue : the King of the vast and
wide world :
6 son of HYSTASPES the Achjemenian : a Persian, son of
a Persian.
7 DARIUS the King says : Under the protection
8 of OROMASDES, these are the countries which I hold
9 besides Persia : and whatever tribute I have com-
manded them to bring,
10 that they brought : and whatever things I commanded
them to do,
1 1 that they did ; and they fulfilled my laws.
1 2 Media : Susiana : Parthia : Aria : Bactria : Sogdiana :
Chorasmia : '
1 3 Zarangia : Arachotia : Sattagydia : Gandaria : '
14 India :s those Cimmerians who are called the Humurga :
those other Cimmerians
1 Chorasmia, now Khiva.
9 Gandaria, now Candahar.
1 Probably only the Punjab, or perhaps the districts near the river Indus.
152 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
15 who wear gloves on their hands : ' Babylonia : Assyria:
Arabia :
1 6 Egypt: Armenia: Cappadocia: Sparta: Ionia:
17 those Cimmerians who dwell beyond the sea," in the
land of Scythia :
1 8 those lonians who wear helmets on their heads : the
Budians :
19 the Cossceans : the Masians : and the land of Cartha.
DARIUS the King says :
20 When OROMASDES saw that these countries were at war
21 with each other continually, after he had given me to
them
22 and had appointed me to be King over them, then I
the King under the protection
23 of OROMASDES kept them all quiet in their right places.
24 Whatever I said, that they did, and they wished the
thing that I wished.
25 And if thou 3 should'st say thus : " Surely these nations
will quarrel and split asunder
26 who now obey DARIUS the King," look well at those
statues which support my throne,4
2 7 and if thou dost recognise them,5 then it will be known
to thee
28 that the spear of the Persian reaches far !
29 Then it will be known to thee, that the men of Persia
far beyond their own country
1 "Gloves :" in the original karlul. This word occurs in the Old Testa-
ment (Daniel, and i Chronicles) in the sense of a covering for some part of
the body. Gloves were almost unknown to the southern nations though
very suitable to the climate of the Cimmerians or Scythians.
1 Beyond the Euxine, Darius afterwards waged in person a very
disastrous war against these Scythians.
s Thou : that is, thou, whoever thou art, who shall read these lines.
4 Namely, in the original sculpture at Nakshi Rustam.
5 That is, the nations meant to be represented.
THE INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS. 153
30 wars are wont to wage. DARIUS the King says : All
this that I have done, under the protection of
31 OROMASDES I have done it. OROMASDES gave me
the strength
32 to do these things. May OROMASDES protect me
33 from everything that is evil, both my family and my
country
34 this I pray OROMASDES : may OROMASDES grant it !
35 O man ! whatever OROMASDES commands, do not thou
rebel against it !
155
ACCADIAN HYMN TO ISTAR.
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
following is one of the many early Chaldean
hymns that were incorporated into a collection which
M. Lenormant has aptly compared with the Rig-
Veda of India. The concluding lines show that it
originally belonged to the city of Erech (now
Warkci). The date of its composition must be ex-
ceedingly remote, and this increases the interest of
the astronomical allusions contained in it. The
original Accadian text is given, with an interlinear
Assyrian translation, as is usually the case with
156 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
hymns of this kind. The terra cotta tablet on which
it is found is numbered S 954, being one of those
that have been recently brought back from Assyria
by Mr. George Smith, who has translated the Reverse
in his Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 392, 393. I owe a
copy of the text to the kindness of Mr. Boscawen.
It is of considerable importance for the study of
Assyrian grammar.
ACCADIAN HYMN TO ISTAR.
OBVERSE.
1 Light of heaven, who like the fire dawnest on the
world, (art) thou.
2 Goddess in the earth, in thy fixed abode,
3 who dawnest1 like the earth, (art) thou.
4 (As for) thee, prosperity approaches thee.
5 To the house of men in thy descending (thou goest).
6 A hyaena, which as they go in warlike strength are
made to march, (art) thou.
7 A lion, which into the midst is wont to march, (art)
thou.
8 Day (is thy) servant, heaven (thy) canopy.
9 The servant of ISTAR ;a heaven (is thy) canopy.
10 Princess of the four cities, head of the sea,3 heaven (is
thy) canopy,
i r The exalted of the Sun-god, heaven (is thy) canopy.
1 2 For the revolver of the seasons sanctuaries I build, a
temple I build.
13 For my father the Moon-god, the revolver ot the
seasons, sanctuaries I build, a temple I build.
14 For my brother the Sun-god, the revolver of the sea-
sons, sanctuaries I build, a temple I build.
1 5 (As for) me, for Nannaru * I built the precinct, for the
revolver of seasons sanctuaries I build, a temple I build.
1 The Assyrian rendering has: "art caused to journey."
' The Assyrian mis-translates : " A servant (is) Istar."
5 The translation given in the text is extremely doubtful.
4 Literally, " the brilliant one " a title of the Moon-god, which gave
rise to the classical legend of Nannarus.
158 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
1 6 In heaven he laid the hand; for the revolver of
seasons sanctuaries I build, a temple I build.
17 In the beginning (thou art) my begetter ; in the
beginning (thou art) my begetter.
1 8 In the beginning the goddess spoke thus to men :
19 The Lady of heaven,1 the divinity of the zenith,
(am) I.
20 The Lady of heaven, the divinity of the dawn,
(am) I.
21 The Queen of heaven, the opener of the locks of the
high heaven, my begetter.
22 Heaven she benefits, earth she enlightens;2 my
begetter.
23 The benefitter of heaven, the enlightener3 of earth;
my begetter.
REVERSE.
1 Thou who on the axis of heaven dawnest, in the
dwellings of the earth her name revolves ; my begetter.
2 (As) Queen of heaven above and below may she be
invoked ; my begetter.
3 The mountains fiercely she hurls-into-the-deep;4 my
begetter.
4 As to the mountains, their goodly stronghold (art)
thou, their mighty lock (art) thou;s my begetter.
5 May thy heart rest; may thy liver be magnified.
6 O Lord ANU, the mighty, may thy heart rest
1 The Assyrian renders this by " Istar."
2 Or perhaps " smites."
3 Or perhaps " smiter."
4 The Assyrian mistranslates : " I hurl into the deep."
5 The Assyrian mistranslates : " I " for " thou."
ACCADIAN HYMN TO ISTAR. 159
7 O Lord, the mighty Prince1 BEL, may thy liver be
magnified.
8 O ISTAR, the Lady of heaven, may thy heart rest
9 O Lady, Queen of heaven, may thy liver (be mag-
nified).
10 O Lady, Queen of the House of heaven, may thy heart
(rest).
1 1 O Lady, Queen of the land of Erech, may thy liver
(be magnified).
12 O Lady, Queen of the land of the four rivers of
Erech,' may thy heart (rest).
13 O Lady, Queen of the Mountain of the World,3 may
thy liver (be magnified).
14 O Lady, Queen of the Temple of the Resting-place of
the world, may thy heart (rest).
15 O Lady, Queen of Babylon, may thy liver (be mag-
nified).
1 6 O Lady, Queen of the Memorial of NAN'A, may thy
heart (rest).
17 O Queen of the Temple, Queen of the gods, may
thy liver (be magnified).
1 8 Prayer of the heart to ISTAR.
19 Like its original 4 written and translated.
20 Palace of ASSUR-BANI-PAL, King of Assyria ;
1 Sadi in Assyrian, literally "mountain" or "rock" and apparently
connected with the Hebrew Shaddai as in the phrase El Shaddai, "God
Almighty."
* Possibly the four rivers of Paradise.
3 Also called the " Mountain of the East," Mount Elwand on which the
ark rested.
4 That is the text from which the Assyrian copy was made for the
library of Assurbanipal.
160 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
21 Son of ESAR-HADDON, King of multitudes, King of
Assyria, High-Priest of Babylon,
2 2 King of Sumer and Accad, King of the Kings of Gush
and Egypt,
23 King of the four zones ; Son of SENNACHERIB,
24 King of multitudes, King of Assyria ;
25 who to ASSUR and BELTIS, NEBO and TASMIT trusts.
26 Thy kingdom, O light of the gods.
THE WAR
OF THE
SEVEN EVIL SPIRITS AGAINST HEAVEN.
TRANSLATED BY
H. F, TALBOT, F. R.S.
'"THIS curious narrative is found in plate 5 of the
fourth Volume of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of
Western Asia, published by the British Museum. As
a composition it appears to me decidedly inferior to
the " Deluge Tablets " and the " Descent of Ishtar."
The scribe repeats the same ideas too often : he
might have introduced more variety, and if he had
given us a succession of events instead of a scene of
mere turmoil and confusion, his poem would have
had more interest for us. Allowance must however
be made for the fractured condition of the tablet,
voi. v. 13
1 62 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
great part of which is lost, and this part may have
contained the finest portions of the narrative. This
ancient story appears to have suggested to the
Greeks the fable of the Giants warring against
heaven : the Giganto-machia.
My translation differs in some respects from that
given by Mr. Smith in his Assyrian Discoveries,
p. 398.
163
WAR OF THE SEVEN EVIL SPIRITS.
COLUMN I.
1 Days of storms, Powers of Evil.
2 Rebellious spirits, who were born in the lower part of
heaven,
3 They were workers of calamity,
4 [After this, the ends of many lines are broken off, and the
names or descriptions of the spirits are in consequence lost].
5 The first of the seven was
6 The second was
7 The third was like a leopard
8 The fourth was like a snake
9 The fifth was like a dog
10 The sixth was an enemy to heaven and its King.
1 1 The seventh was a destructive tempest
1 2 These seven are the messengers of ANU ' their King.
13 From place to place by turns they pass.
14 They are the dark storms in heaven, which into fire
unite themselves.
1 5 They are the destructive tempests, which on a fine day
sudden darkness cause.
1 6 With storms and meteors they rush.
1 7 Their rage ignites the thunderbolts of IM.°
1 8 From the right hand of the Thunderer they dart forth.
1 Anu was the ruler of the highest heaven. Meteors and lightnings are
similarly considered in Hebrew poetry as the messengers of the Almighty.
Psalm civ. 4, " Who maketh his ministers a flaming jire" quoted in Heb.
1.7.
* Itn, the god of the sky, sometimes called Rimmon (the thunderer). He
answers to the Jupiter Tonans of the Latins.
164 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
19 On the horizon of heaven like lightning they ....
20 ....
21 Against high heaven the dwelling place of ANU the
King, they plotted evil and had none to withstand them.
22 When BEL heard this news, he communed secretly with
his own heart.
23 Then he took counsel with HEA the great Inventor (or
Sage) of the gods.
24 And they stationed the Moon, the Sun, and ISHTAR to
keep guard over the approach to heaven.
25 Unto ANU, ruler of heaven, they told it.
26 And those three gods, his children,
27 to watch night and day unceasingly he commanded
them.
28 When those seven evil spirits rushed upon the base of
Heaven,
29 and close in front of the Moon with fiery weapons
advanced,
30 Then the noble Sun and IM the warrior side by side
stood firm.
3 1 But ISHTAR ' with ANU the King entered the exalted
dwelling, and hid themselves in the summit of heaven.
1 The Babylonian Venus.
THE WAR OF THE SEVEN EVIL SPIRITS. 165
COLUMN II.
[All the commencement of the second Column is broken off,
and I think there is no connected sense till we get to line 25 of
the lithographed Plate, which I will here call line i.j
1 Those evil spirits, the messengers of ANU their King
2
3 They have plotted evil ....
4 From mid heaven like meteors they have rushed upon
the earth.
5 BEL who the noble Moon in eclipse
6 saw from heaven,
7 called aloud to PAKU his messenger.
8 O my messenger PAKU, carry my words to the Deep1
9 Tell my Son that the Moon in heaven is terribly
eclipsed !
10 To HEA in the Deep repeat this !
1 1 PAKU understood the words of his Lord.
12 Unto HEA in the Deep swiftly he went
13 To the Lord, the great Inventor, the god NUKIMMUT'
14 PAKU repeated the words of his Lord.
15 When HEA in the Deep heard these words.
1 6 He bit his lips,3 and tears bedewed his face.
1 7 Then he sent for his son MARDUK to help him.
1 8 Go to my son MARDUK,
19 Tell my son that the Moon in heaven is terribly
eclipsed !
20 That eclipse has been seen in heaven !
1 The Abyss or Ocean where the god Hea dwelt.
' Nukimmut, a name of Hea which occurs frequently.
* A sign of great vexation. Compare the legend of Ishtar, Col. ii. line
21, "the goddess of Hades smote her bosom and I'it her lingers" (in vexa-
tion at what she had heard).
1 66 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
2 1 They are seven, those evil spirits and death they fear
not!
22 They are seven, those evil spirits, who rush like a
hurricane,
23 and fall like firebrands on the earth !
24 In front of the bright Moon with fiery weapons (they
draw nigh)
25 But the noble Sun and IM the warrior (are withstanding
them)
[The rest of the legend is lost.]
i67
TABLES OF OMENS
FURNISHED BY DOGS AND BIRTHS.
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
HP HE Babylonians believed that every event which
followed another had been caused by the preceding
one, and accordingly formed a pseudo-science in
which every possible phenomenon was assigned some
consequence supposed to result from it. Omens were
thus drawn from all conceivable occurrences, and
lists were compiled of the results that might be
expected to succeed particular events. Thus there
are tables of omens derived from dreams, from
births, from the inspection of the hand or the entrails
of animals, and from the objects a traveller meets
1 68 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
with on the road. The following table of omens
furnished by dogs will give an idea of the nature of
this Babylonian system of augury. The beginning
of the tablet as well as the reverse has been
destroyed ; all that is left of it is translated
below for the first time. The original terra cotta
tablet is numbered K 217 in the British Museum
Collection, and a copy of the text will be found in
M. Francois Lenormant's Choix de Textes Cuntiformes,
Vol. iii., p. 234.
169
TABLE OF OMENS FURNISHED BY DOGS.
1 (If a blue dog enters into a palace, that palace) is
burned.
2 (If ) a yellow dog enters into the palace, exit from that
palace will be baleful.1
3 (If ) a spotted dog enters into the palace, that palace
its peace to the enemy gives.
4 (If) a dog to the palace goes and no one kills, that
palace its peace fails.
5 (If ) a dog to the palace goes and on a bed lies down,
that palace none with his hand takes.
6 (If) a dog to the palace goes and on a throne lies
down, that palace is burned.
7 (If) a dog to the palace goes and on the royal parasol
lies down, that palace its peace to the enemy gives.
8 (If ) a dog into a temple enters, the gods to the country
grant no favour.
9 (If ) a white dog into a temple enters, the foundation
of that temple (is) not stable.
10 (If ) a black dog into a temple enters, the foundation of
that temple (is) not stable.
11 (If) a blue dog into a temple enters, that temple sees
plenty.
12 (If) a yellow dog into a temple enters, that temple
sees plenty.
13 (If ) a spotted dog into a temple enters, that temple do
its gods love.
1 Literally, " that palace, harm (is) exit from it."
170 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
14 (If) dogs crouch and into a temple enter, none this
(temple) with his hand takes.
15 Seventeen statements altogether concerning the know-
ledge of omens.1
1 6 (If) female dogs in the gates howl, the handmaids'
conceive female seed.
17 (If) female dogs one litter bear, destruction to the city.
1 8 (If) female dogs bear a man,3 that city makes many
fortresses
19 (If female dogs) eat . . . . , that city sees famine.
1 This is a subscription by the scribe, and a short summary of the con-
tents of the paragraphs copied. See also line 5, page 175, and the last
paragraph or colophon of the tablet.
* Literally, "handmaidenhood."
3 Literally, " humanity."
TABLE OF BIRTH-PORTENTS.
A tablet of the same kind, which has already been
translated by M. Oppert in the Journal Asiatique,
may be added here. The original text is litho-
graphed in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western
Asia, Vol. iii., pi. 65.
OBVERSE
1 When a woman bears a child and it has the ears of a
lion, a strong King is in the country.
2 When a woman bears a child and its right ear is
wanting, the days of the Prince are long.
3 When a woman bears a child and both its ears are
wanting, a (hostile) fortress is in the country and the
country is made small.
4 When a woman bears a child and its right ear is small,
the man's house is destroyed.
5 When a woman bears a child and its ears are small, the
man's house is made of bricks.
6 When a woman bears .a child and its right ear hangs
down, an androgyne1 in the man's house is born.
7 When a woman bears a child and its ears hang down,
its country is destroyed ; the prosperity of the enemy is
seen.
8 When a woman bears a child and its right ear is round,
an androgyne ' in the man's house is born.
9 When a woman bears a child and it right ear is formed
in the lower part of its face/ the man's son (and) the
man's house are destroyed.
1 Hermaphrodite.
* Rather, perhaps, the back of the neck. The word is used in the
Annals of Assur-nasir-pal (ii. 53, and iii. 69.) in the sense of "behind."
I?2 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
10 When a woman bears a child and both its ears are on
the right side and there is none on the left, the gods
restore prosperity to the country and the champaign
country abides at rest.
11 When a woman bears a child and both its ears are
closed, a sacrifice is made.
12 When a woman bears a child and it has a bird's beak,
that country is oppressed.
13 When a woman bears a child and it has ho mouth, the
mistress of the house dies.
14 When a woman bears a child, and its right nostril is
wanting, increase of the multitude.
1 5 When a woman bears a child and its nostrils are want-
ing, the country a (hostile) fortress seizes ; the man's
house is destroyed.
1 6 When a woman bears a child and its jaws are wanting,
the days of the Prince are long ; that house is destroyed.
1 7 When a woman bears a child and its lower jaw is wanting,
the produce of the country for a year is not brought down.
1 8 When a woman bears a child and its knee is wanting,
the man's house is destroyed.
19 When a woman bears a child and its knee is stiff,
prosperity to the multitude.
20 When a woman bears a child and its . . . . is wanting,
the country a (hostile) fortress seizes (and) the master of
the house dies.
21 When a woman bears a child and its .... and its
member are wanting, the army of the King is powerful ;
peace possesses that country, and the men obedience
possess ; Lilith ' before them is not.
1 Lilith plays a considerable part in Jewish tradition, which represents
her as the demon-wife of Adam and a feminine night-spirit that wanders
about in deserts. In Is. xxxiv. 14, Lilith is mentioned as taking up her
abode in desolated Edom.
TABLES OF OMENS. 173
22 When a woman bears a child and the upper lip over-
hangs the lower, prosperity to the multitude.
23 When a woman bears a child and its lips are wanting,
the country a (hostile) fortress seizes (and) the man's
house is destroyed.
24 When a woman bears a child and its knee is stiff, that
man is spared.
25 When a woman bears a child and its right hand is
wanting, that country goes to destruction.
26 When a woman bears a child and its hands are wanting,
the city (has) no births, the country is solitary and
destroyed.
27 When a woman bears a child and the fingers of its
right hand are wanting, the Prince makes no parleyings
with his enemy.
28 When a woman bears a child and (it has) 6 fingers on the
right hand, a persistent seizure seizes the house of the
man.
29 When a woman bears a child and it has 6 toes on each
foot,1 the children go not to school.
30 When a woman bears a child and it has 6 toes on its
right foot, increase of the multitude.
31 When a woman bears a child and its heart is open and
it has no skin, the country sees privation.
32 When a woman bears a child and its member is wanting,
the master of the house enriches himself by the crop of the
field.
33 When a woman bears a child and its member and navel
are wanting, the whole country sees misfortune ; the
women of it see hardship ; its men (in) the palace are
destroyed.
1 Literally, " six toes apiece on its two feet."
174 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
34 When a woman bears a child and it has no sex, priva-
tion and invasion seize the country ; the master of the
house is unprosperous.
35 When a woman bears a child and its anus is closed, the
country sees privation.
36 When a woman bears a child and its right fundament is
wanting, the country of the Prince is devastated.
37 When a woman bears a child and its right foot is want-
ing, that house goes to destruction ; the man's house
falls.
38 When a woman bears a child and its feet are wanting,
the roads of the country are cut ; that house is destroyed.
39 When a woman bears a child and its right foot is like
the tail of a fish, the booty of the country ....
40 When a woman bears a child and its feet and hands are
like the tail of a fish, the Prince eats the produce of his
country.
41 When a woman bears a child and its feet move them-
selves through his overpowering hunger, that house . . .
is destroyed.
REVERSE
1 When a woman bears a child and its foot is attached to
the tendons of its body, there is pestilence in the country.
2 When a woman bears a child and it has three feet, two
attached to the body (and) one to the two others,1 there is
pestilence in the country.
3 When a woman bears a child and its legs are male and
female, the whole country sees misfortune ; the master
1 Literally, " two descending into the body, the other into the midst of
the other."
TABLES OF OMENS. 175
4 When a woman bears a child and its right heel is want-
ing, the country of the Prince is devastated.
5 Forty-six statements,1 from "When a woman bears a
child and it has a lion's ear " : copied.8
6 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth s
its head is full of white-hairs, the days of the Prince are long.
7 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it is full of .... , the master of the house dies and
that house is destroyed.
8 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it is full of pieces of fat, (as for) that house prosperity
goes before it.
9 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it is full of spots, misfortune over it ensues ; the King of
its city dies.
10 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it is full of unclean yivellings, the King estranges his Princes.
1 1 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it is full of hanging pieces of flesh, the forces of the
whole country see misfortune.
1 2 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it is full of flakes of flesh,4 the forces of the whole
country see misfortune ; that house is destroyed.
1 3 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
fingers are formed, the days of the Prince are long (and)
extended (his) reign.
[A blank line is left here in the original text.]
14 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it \sperfect, its King is in the country.
1 This is a subscription by the scribe, and a short summary of the con-
tents of the paragraphs copied. See also line 15, page 170, and the last
paragraph or colophon of the tablet.
* Literally, " transferred from its (former) place."
s Literally, "at that very time." 4 Literally, " tablets."
176 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
1 5 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
its body is full-grown, the master of the house is not
prosperous.
1 6 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
its teeth are cut, the days of the Prince are long, a strong
country is seen; against the country (there are) cam-
paigns ; that house is destroyed.
17 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
its beard is grown, floods are in the country.
1 8 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
it has a hare-lip, a strong country is conquered.
1 9 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
its mouth is open and speaks, there is pestilence in the
country ; the Air-god inundates the crops of the country ;
injury in the country is caused.
20 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
its right ear (is) thick, the father shaves the head ; the sons
of the army for a year are numerous.
2 1 When a woman bears a child and at the time of birth
its ears are long and thick, the troops of a mighty
squadron exist.
2 2 When a woman bears a child and its mouth is horned,
an ambassador ....
23 When a sheep bears a lion, the forces march multitudi-
nously : the King has not a rival.
24 Seventeen statements, from " When a woman bears a
child and at the time of birth its head is covered with
white hair," copied.1
1 This is a subscription by the scribe, and a short summary of the con-
tents of the paragraphs copied. See also line 15, p. 170, and line 5, p. 175.
177
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS FOR TRANSLATION.
ASSYRIAN.
ARRANGED BY
GEORGE SMITH.
Works on History and Chronology.
Eponym Canon (Cun. Ins., Vol. Ill, p. i).
Historical Canon (Cun. Ins., Vol. II, p. 52).
Synchronous History (Cun. Ins., Vol. II., p. 65).
Historical.
Legends of Izdubar (texts unpublished). (Deluge Tablets.)
Inscriptions of Urukh king of Babylonia (Cun. Ins., Vol. I,
p. i).
Inscriptions of Dungi son of Urukh (Cun. Ins., Vol. I, p. 2).
Early Babylonian Dated Tablets (texts unpublished).
Brick of Samsi-vul I, ruler of Assyria (Cun. Ins., Vol. i, p. 6).
Inscription of Agu and other early kings.
Inscriptions of Burna-buriyas king of Babylon (Cun. Ins.,
Volt I, p. 4, etc.).
Inscriptions of Kuri-galzu king of Babylon (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. I, p. 4, etc.).
Inscriptions of Pudil king of Assyria (Revue Ar., Nov., 1869).
Monolith of Maruduk-bal-idina I, king of Babylonia (text
unpublished).
Tablet of Vul-nirari I, king of Assyria (text unpublished).
Small Inscriptions of Vul-nirari (various).
Inscriptions of Shalmaneser I, king of Assyria (various).
VOL. v. 13
178 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Inscriptions of Tugulti-ninip, king of Assyria (various un-
published ; one Cun. Ins., Vol. Ill, p. 4).
Inscriptions of Assur-risilim, king of Assyria (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. Ill, p. 3).
Brick and Cone Inscriptions of Vul-bal-idina, king of Babylon
(various).
Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar I, king of Babylonia (un-
published).
Cylinder of Tiglath-Pileser I, king of Assyria (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. I, pp. 9-16).
Other fragments of Tiglath-Pileser (various).
Contracts dated in the reign of Maruduk-nadin-ahi, king of
Babylon (various).
Inscriptions of Assur-bel-kala, king of Assyria (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. I, p. 6).
Inscriptions of Samsivul IV, king of Assyria (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. Ill, p. 3).
Contract dated in the reign of Simma-sihu king of Babylon
(Layard's Ins., p. 53).
Inscriptions of Assur-nazir-pal (various).
Bull Inscription of Shalmaneser II (Layard's Ins., p. 12, etc.).
Inscriptions of Vul-nirari III, king of Assyria (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. I. p. 35).
Fragments of Annals of Tiglath-Pileser II, king of Assyria
(various).
Fragments of Inscriptions Shalmaneser IV, king of Assyria
(various).
Inscription of the Second Year of Sargon (unpublished).
Nimrud Inscription of Sargon (Layard's Ins., p. 33).
Cylinder (Barrel) of Sargon (Cun. Ins., Vol. I, p. 36).
Prism of Sargon (unpublished).
Fasti of Sargon (Botta).
Annals of Sargon (Botta).
Other Inscriptions of Sargon (various).
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS. 179
Tablet of Kalah Shergat.
Nebbi Yunas Tablet (Cun. Ins., Vol. I, pp. 43, 44).
Bull Inscriptions of Sennacherib (Cun. Ins., Vol. Ill, pp. 12
and 13).
Other Inscriptions of Sennacherib (various).
Cylinder of Esarhaddon king of Assyria (Cun. Ins., Vol. I,
pp. 45-47)-
Various other Inscriptions of Esarhaddon (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. I, etc.).
Egyptian Campaign of Esarhaddon (S. 2027).
Portions of Cylinders B, C, D, and E, of Assurbanipal
(Smith's Assurbanipal).
Various Historical Tablets of Assurbanipal (Smith's Assur-
banipal).
Hunting Texts of Assurbanipal (Cun. Ins., Vol. I, p. 7).
Inscriptions of Assur-ebel-ili king of Assyria (Cun. Ins., Vols.
I and III).
Cylinder of Bel-zakir-iskun king of Assyria (Cun. Ins. Vol. I,
p. 8).
Inscription of Nabopalassar king of Babylonia (unpublished).
Senkereh Cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar (Cun. Ins., Vol. I,
P-50-
Borsippa Cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar (Cun. Ins., Vol. I,
P- Si)-
Various other texts of Nebuchadnezzar.
Tablet dated in the reign of Evil Merodach, king of Babylon.
Cylinder of Nergal-shar-ezer king of Babylon (Cun. Ins.,
Vol. I, p. 67).
Cylinders of Nabonidas king of Babylon (Cun. Ins., Vol. I,
pp. 68, 69).
Other texts of Nabonidas (various).
Brick of Cyrus, king of Babylon (Trans. Soc. Bib. Ar., Vol. II,
pt. I). '
Inscription on Tomb of Cyrus.
l8o RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Dated Tablets in reign of Cambyses (various).
Inscriptions of Darius.
Inscriptions of Xerxes, king of Persia.
Inscriptions of Artaxerxes, king of Persia.
Later Inscriptions of Persian, Greek, and Parthian periods.
Mythology and Religion (mostly unpublished}.
History of the Evil Spirits.
Hymn to the Moon God.
Hymns to Ninip.
The War of the Gods.
Names and Titles of Ishtar.
Incantations for removing Curses.
Prayers of Amil-urgal.
Prayer against Eclipses.
Various other Prayers.
Various Mythological Stories and Invocations.
Tablets against Witchcraft.
Fable (unpublished}.
The Horse and the Ox.
Government (mostly unpublished}.
Tablet with Advice and Cautions to Kings.
Various Reports and Despatches.
Various Tablets with Laws and Reports of Law Cases.
Private Life.
Further Deeds of Sale and Barter.
Further Loan Tablets.
Private Letters.
Lists of Property.
Science, etc. (partly unpublished}.
Geographical Lists.
Lists of Animals and Birds (Delitzsch).
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS. l8l
Lists of Minerals and their uses.
Lists of Wooden Objects.
Grammatical Tablets (a selection from).
Mathematical Tablets.
Astrology and Astronomy.
Further Selections from the great Chaldean Work on As-
trology.
Further Selections from Astronomical and Astrological
Reports.
A Selection of Omens from Terrestrial Objects and Events.1
PHCENICIAN.
Sarcophagus of Ashmunazer (Due de Luynes, Memoire,
1856).
Marseilles Inscription (Judas, 1857).
The Moabite Stone (Ginsburg, 1871).
Selected Mortuary Inscriptions.
1 Selections of these only printed in Vol. 1 .
182
EGYPTIAN,
(Tentative List only.}
ARRANGED BY
P. LE PAGE RENOUF, F.R.S.L.
Historical Documents.
Ancient Empire :
Inscription of Tomb of Ameni (Benihassan I).
„ Tomb of Nahre-si Chnum-hotep (Beni-
hassan II).
Xlth Dynasty :
Sepulchral Inscription of Ameni (Birch).
XVIIIth Dynasty :
Inscription of Aahmes son of Abna(Denk. Ill, pi. 12).
„ Aahmes, formerly called Pensouvan
(Louvre C, 49).
„ Thothmes I, at Karnak (Denk. Ill, 18).
„ Hatasu (Duemichen, Hist. Ins., 19, 20).
Other Monuments of Thothmes III (Birch and De
Rouge).
Inscription of Amen-em-heb at Abd-el-Gurnah (Ebers).
Inscription of Haremhebi.
Inscriptions of Amenophis III (Denk. Ill, 65 and
following).
Monuments of the Disk Worshippers.
XlXth Dynasty :
Triumphal Inscription of Seti I at Karnak (Denk. Ill,
126).
Inscription of Seti I, at Radesieh.
Sarcophagus of Seti I (Bonomi).
The Great Harris Papyrus of Rameses II.
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS. 183
Dedicatory Inscription of Rameses II, at Abydos
(Maspero).
Triumphal Inscriptions (Denk. Ill, 165, etc.).
Historical Inscription at Abusimbel (187).
Great Tablet at Abusimbel (194).
Inscription of Bek-en-chonsu (DeVeria).
List of Kings :
Turin Papyrus.
Tablet of Abydos.
Tablet of Sakkarah.
XXth Dynasty :
Inscription of Seti II (Duemichen, Hist. Ins., 1-5).
„ Rameses III (Rosellini, Burton, Greene,
and Duemichen, ubi supra 13 to 15).
XXIst Dynasty :
Tablet 4th year of Rameses IV.
Tablet of Temple of Chonsu at Karnak.
Ethiopic period :
Inscription of Queen Madsenenl
Inscription of King Nastosenen yMariette's Monuments.
"Stele de 1'inthronisation." J
Persian and Ptolemaic :
Tablet of Aahmes (Pierret).
Statuette Naophore du Vatican.
Tablet of Tafnecht at Naples.
Inscription of Ptolemy son of Lagos.
Inscription of Alexander Aegos (Zeitschrift).
Tablet of Canopus.
" Bauurkunde der Tempelanlagen von Edfu" (Due-
michen).
Two Ptolemaic Tablets (Birch).
Selection of Obelisk Inscriptions.
„ Apis Tablets.
184 RECORDS OF THE PAST.
Religious or Magical Texts.
Ancient Forms of Sepulchral Offerings, etc. (Tablets of
Ancient Empire).
Book of the Dead.
Spells in Lepsius (" Aelteste Texte").
Harris Magical Papyrus.
Magical Text in British Museum (Salt 825. Birch).
" Horus on Crocodiles" (various texts, Leydenand elsewhere).
Spells in Tomb of Bek-en-ren-ef.
" Metternich Tablet."
Legend of Horus (Naville).
Rhind Papyri.
Sarcophagus of Aroeri (Bonomi).
„ Necht-en-heb.
„ T'at-hra (Louvre).
„ British Museum, 32.
Litanies of the Sun (Denk. Ill, 203).
Apis Stelae (a very large number).
Selection of Hymns, such as the following :
To Ammon (Denk. Ill, 237).
Other Hymns to Ammon (Goodwin).
Ap-heru-mes (Berlin, in Brugsch Monumens, pi. III).
Meri ( „ „ „ pi. IV).
Fragments of the Hymns of the Disk Worshippers.
Several in British Museum.
„ Duemichen's publications.
Great Psalm to Ammon (Leyden I, 350).
Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky days (Sallier, Chabas).
Calendars of Festivals from as Early Date as possible to
Roman Period.
Literature, Philosophy, Science, Economy.
Proverbs, Prisse Papyrus (Chabas).
Tale of the Garden of Flowers (Chabas).
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS. 185
Tale of the " Saneha " (Goodwin).
" Rules of Life " (Papyrus at Boulaq, lately published by
Marriette).
Song of the Oxen (Denk. Ill, 10).
Lay of the. Harper.
Three Amatory Songs (Goodwin).
Medical Papyrus (Berlin).
„ „ (British Museum).
„ „ (Ebers Papyrus).
Geometrical Papyrus (British Museum).
Calendar of Astronomical Observations' in Tombs of XXth
Dynasty (Renouf).
Letters on all varieties of subjects in the Sallier, Anastasi,
Leyden, and Bologna Papyri.
Registers, etc., (Rollin and other Papyri).
Accounts.
Receipts for making Kyphi, etc.
Catalogues of the Temple Library at Edfu.
Law and Police.
Abbott Papyrus (Spoliation of Tombs).
" Pap. Judiciaire de Turin " (Deveria).
"Pap. Judiciaire Amhurst" (Chabas).
Report on Capture of Fugitive Slaves (Leyden I, 368,
Chabas).
Complaint against Paneba (British Museum Papyrus, Salt,
Chabas).
Petition to king Amenophis (Chabas).
Complaint against Thefts committed by certain Workmen
(Chabas).
LIST OF ARTICLES
Which have appeared in the "RECORDS OF THE PAST'
up to this date, July i, 1875.
EGYPTIAN TEXTS.
Inscription of Una.
Annals of Thothmes III.
Statistical Tablet.
Tablet of Thothmes III.
Battle of Megiddo.
Inscription of Amen-em-heb.
Inscription of Anebni.
Inscription of Aahmes.
Obelisk of the Lateran.
Tablet of 400 Years.
Invasion of Egypt by the Greeks in the reign of
Meneptah.
Dirge of Menephtah I.
The Possessed Princess.
Rosetta Stone.
By S. BIRCH, LL.D.
Hymn to Amen-Ra.
Tale of the Doomed Prince.
Treaty of Peace Between Rameses II. and the Hittites.
Neapolitan Stele.
Festal Dirge of the Egyptians.
By C. W. GOODWIN, M.A.
Instructions of Amenemhat I.
Ethiopian Annals.
Stele of the Dream.
Stele of the Excommunication.
By G. MASPERO.
War of Rameses II with the Khita.
By PROF. E. L. LUSHINGTON.
LIST OF TRANSLATIONS. 187
Inscription of Pianchi Mer-Amon.
Hymn to the Nile.
By REV. F. C. COOK, M.A.
Tablet of Newer-Hotep.
The Tablet of Ahmes.
Inscription of Queen Madsenen.
By PAUL PIERRET.
Travels of an Egyptian.
Obelisk of Rameses II.
Hymn to Osiris.
By FRANJOIS CHABAS.
Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys.
Book of the Respirations.
By P. J. DE HoRRACK.
Tale of the Two Brothers.
Tale of Setnau.
By P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
Egyptian Calendar.
Table of Dynasties.
Measures and Weights.
ASSYRIAN TEXTS.
Inscription of Rimmon-Nirari.
Monolith Inscription of Samas-Rimmon.
Babylonian Exorcisms.
Private Will of Sennacherib. /
Assyrian Private Contract Tablets.
Assyrian Astronomical Tablets.
Assyrian Calendar.
Tables of Assyrian Weights and Measures.
Synchronous History of Assyria and Babylonia.
Tablet of Ancient Accadian Laws.
1 88 LIST OF TRANSLATIONS.
ASSYRIAN TEXTS, continued.
Kurkh Inscription of Shalmaneser.
Table of Assyrian Laws.
Accadian Liturgy.
Babylonian Charms.
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II.
Accadian Hymn to Istar.
Tables of Omens.
By REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
Inscription of Khammurabi.
Bellino's Cylinder of Sennacherib.
Taylor's Cylinder of Sennacherib.
Legend of the Descent of Ishtar.
Inscription of Esarhaddon.
Second Inscription of Esarhaddon.
Sacred Assyrian Poetry.
Sargina I. Infancy text.
Inscription of Nabonidus.
Darius Inscription Nakshi-Rustam.
War of Seven Evil Spirits.
By H. Fox TALBOT, F.R.S.
Annals of Assurbanipal.
Early History of Babylonia. Part I.
Part II.
By GEORGE SMITH.
Behistun Inscription of Darius.
Inscription of Tiglath Pileser I.
By SIR H. RAWLINSON, K.C.B., D.C.L.
Annals of Assur-nasir-pal.
Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar.
Tiglath Pileser II.
Inscription of Neriglissar.
By REV. J. M. RODWELL.
RECORDS OF THE PAST.
VOL. I.
ASSYRIAN TEXTS.
CONTENTS:
INSCRIPTION OF RI M MO N -N I R A R I.
Bv REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
INSCRIPTION OF KHAMMURABI.
BY H. FOX TALBOT, F.R.S.
MONOLITH INSCRIPTION OF S AM AS-RIMMON.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
SELLING'S CYLINDER OF SENNACHERIB.
BY H. FOX TALBOT, F.R.S.
TAYLOR'S CYLINDER OF SENNACHERIB.
BY H. FOX TALBOT, F.R.S.
ANNALS OF ASSURBANIPAL (CYLINDER A).
BY GEORGE SMITH.
BEHISTUN INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS.
BY SIR H. RAWLINSON, K.C.B., D.C.L.
BABYLONIAN EXORCISMS.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
PRIVATE WILL OF SENNACHERIB.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
ASSYRIAN PRIVATE CONTRACT TABLETS.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
LEGEND OF THE DESCENT OF ISHTAR.
BY H. FOX TALBOT, F.R.S.
ASSYRIAN ASTRONOMICAL TABLETS.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
ASSYRIAN CALENDAR.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
TABLES OF ASSYRIAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
BY. REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS, ASSYRIAN AND
EGYPTIAN.
SELECTED BY GEORGE SMITH, AND P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
RECORDS OF THE PAST.
VOL. II.
EGYPTIAN TEXTS.
CONTENTS:
INSCRIPTION OF UNA.
BY S. BIRCH, LL.D.
INSTRUCTIONS OF AMENEMHAT I.
BY G. MASPERO.
ANNALS OF THOTHMES III.
STATISTICAL TABLET. TABLET OF THOTHMES III. BATTLE OF MEGIDDO.
INSCRIPTION OF AMEN-EM-HEB.
BY S. BIRCH, LL.D.
THE WARS OF RAMESES II WITH THE KHITA.
BY PROF. E. L. LUSHINGTON.
INSCRIPTION OF PIANCHI MER-AMON.
BY REV. F. C. COOK, M.A., CANON OF EXETER.
TABLET OF NEWER-HOTEP.
BY PAUL PIERRET.
TRAVELS OF AN EGYPTIAN.
BY FRANCOIS CHABAS.
THE LAMENTATIONS OF ISIS AND NEPHTHYS.
BY P. J. DE HORRACK.
HYMN TO AMEN-RA.
BY C. W. GOODWIN, M.A.
THE TALE OF THE TWO BROTHERS.
BY P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
THE TALE OF THE DOOMED PRINCE.
BY C. W. GOODWIN, M.A.
EGYPTIAN CALENDAR. TABLE OF DYNASTIES.
EGYPTIAN MEASURES AND WEIGHTS.
LISTS OF FURTHER TEXTS, ASSYRIAN AND
EGYPTIAN.
SELECTED BY GEORGE SMITH AND P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
RECORDS OF THE PAST.
VOL. III.
ASSYRIAN TEXTS.
CONTENTS:
EARLY HISTORY OF BABYLONIA.
BY GEORGE SMITH.
TABLET OF ANCIENT ACCADIAN LAWS.
SYNCHRONOUS HISTORY OF ASSYRIA AND
BABYLONIA.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
ANNALS OF ASSUR-N ASIR-PAL.
BY REV. J. M. RODWELL, M.A.
KURKH INSCRIPTION OF SHALMANESER.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
INSCRIPTION OF ESARHADDON.
SECOND INSCRIPTION OF ESARHADDON.
BY H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
AN ACCADIAN LITURGY.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
SACRED ASSYRIAN POETRY.
BY H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.
BABYLONIAN CHARMS.
BY REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
LIST OF FURTHER TEXTS.
RECORDS OF THE PAST.
VOL. IV.
EGYPTIAN TEXTS.
CONTENTS:
HISTORICAL TEXTS.—
ANNALS OF THOTHMES III.:—
INSCRIPTION OF ANEBNI. INSCRIPTION OF AAHMES. OBELISK OF THF.
LATERAN.
BY S. BIRCH, LL.D.
OBELISK OF RAMESES II.
BY FRANCOIS CHABAS.
TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN RAMESES II. AND
THE HITTITES.
BY C. W. GOODWIN. M.A.
TABLET OF 400 YEARS.
INVASION OF EGYPT BY THE GREEKS IN
THE REIGN OF MENEPHTAH.
DIRGE OF MENEPHTAH. POSSESSED PRINCESS.
BY S. BIRCH, LL.D.
TABLET OF AHMES.
BY PAUL PIERRET.
NEAPOLITAN STELE.
BY C. W. GOODWIN, M.A.
ROSETTA STONE.
BY S. BIRCH, LL.D.
ETHIOPIAN ANNALS:—
STELE OF THE DREAM.
BY G. MASPERO.
INSCRIPTION OF QUEEN MADSENEN.
BY PAUL PIERRET.
STELE OF THE EXCOM MU N I'CAT IO N .
BY G. MASPERO.
MYTHOLOGICAL AND ROMANTIC TEXTS:—
HYMN TO OSIRIS.
BY FRANCOIS CHABAS.
HYMN TO THE NILE.
BY REV. F. C. COOK.
FESTAL DIRGE OF THE EGYPTIANS.
BY C. W. GOODWIN, M.A.
BOOK OF RESPIRATIONS.
BY P. J. DE HORRACK.
TALE OF SETNAU.
BY P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
LIST OF FURTHER TEXTS.
.
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